A comprehensive review on biochemical composition of <i>Urtica dioica</i> L. and its applications to improve health benefits

Figures (11) Tables (4)

Figure 1.
Urtica dioica (a) trichomes, (b) leaves, (c) whole plant, and (d) roots collected from Hiranagar (Totu), Shimla (H.P.).
Figure 2.
(a)–(c) Transverse section of Urtica dioica stem showing vascular bundles^[11].
Figure 3.
(a), (b) Transverse section of Urtica dioica stem showing meta xylem, and proto xylem vascular bundles^[11].
Figure 4.
Chemical composition of stinging nettle^[16−19].
Figure 5.
Mechanism of the stinging sensation caused by Urtica dioica trichomes.
Figure 6.
Biological activity of Urtica dioica L.
Figure 7.
This figure illustrates enhancement of antioxidant activity by protocatechuic acid.
Figure 8.
Nutrient composition of leaves.
Figure 9.
Anti-inflammatory activity of protocatechuic acid.
Figure 10.
Anticancerous activity of protocatechuic acid.
Figure 11.
Structures of the most abundant bioactive compounds in Urtica dioica.

Table 1.

Analysis in qualitative terms of phytochemicals from various plant sections of Urtica dioica^[6,7].

Kingdom	Plantae
Sub kingdom	Tracheobionta – vascular plant
Division	Magnoliophyta – flowering plant
Class	Magnoliopsida – dicotyledons
Subclass	Hamamelidae
Order	Urticales
Family	Urticaceae – nettle family
Genus	Urtica L.
Species	dioica L.

Table 3.

Taxonomy.

Table 4.

Content of chemical composition of stinging nettle leaves^{[17, 20]}.

Language	Vernacular name of Urtica dioica
Hindi	Bichu Butti
Kumaon	Shisuun
Sanskrit	Vrishchhiyaa-shaaka, Dushsparsa
Unani	Anjuraa
Common name	Stinging nettle, Himalyan nettle, Nettle