Hops (Humulus lupulus L.) as a Novel Multipurpose Crop for the Mediterranean Region of Europe: Challenges and Opportunities of Their Cultivation

Abstract

The common hop (Humulus lupulus L.) is a dioecious perennial climbing plant, mainly known for the use of its female inflorescences (cones or, simply, “hops”) in the brewing industry. However, the very first interest towards hops was due to its medicinal properties. Actually, the variety of compounds present in almost all plant parts were (and still are) used to treat or prevent several ailments and metabolic disorders, from insomnia to menopausal symptoms as well as obesity and even cancer. Although hops are predominantly grown for hopping beer, the increasing interest in natural medicine is widening new interesting perspectives for this crop. Moreover, the recent success of the craft beer sector all over the world, made the cultivated hop come out from its traditional growing areas. Particularly, in Europe this resulted in a movement towards southern countries such as Italy, which added itself to the already existing hop industry in Portugal and Spain. In these relatively new environments, a complete knowledge and expertise of hop growing practices is lacking. Overall, while many studies were conducted globally on phytochemistry, bioactivity, and the genetics of hops, results from public research activity on basic hop agronomy are very few and discontinuous as well. The objective of this article is to provide an overview of possible uses, phenology, and agronomic aspects of hops, with specific reference to the difficulties and opportunities this crop is experiencing in the new growing areas, under both conventional and organic farming. The present review aims to fill a void still existing for this topic in the literature and to give directions for farmers that want to face the cultivation of such a challenging crop.

Assessment of Production and Qualitative Characteristics of Different Populations of Salvia sclarea L. Found in Sicily (Italy)

“…Finally, due to considerable interest regarding this species, further studies could be conducted on more efficient propagation methods, using in vitro technologies already adopted for other typical Mediterranean species, such as capers and hops [55][56][57].…”

Hop (Humulus lupulus L.): Traditional and Present Use, and Future Potential

“…Hop extracts can be prepared from spent hops, a by-product of the brewing industry. Promising health benefits have been shown particularly for hop terpenophenolics (bitter acids, prenylchalcones, and prenylflavonoids), e.g., in the prevention of metabolic syndrome and several types of cancer, slowing weight gain, alleviating insulin resistance, and helping with some menopausal symptoms (Table 2) (Astray et al 2020;Bolton et al 2019;Gerhäuser 2005;Hamm et al 2019;Iniguez and Zhu 2021;Langezaal 1992;Magalhães et al 2009;Mahli et al 2018;Philips et al 2017;Rossini et al 2021;Zanoli and Zavatti 2008).…”

Twenty-Years of Hop Irrigation by Flooding the Inter-Row Did Not Cause a Gradient along the Row in Soil Properties, Plant Elemental Composition and Dry Matter Yield

“…In most of the hop producing regions of the world, the crop needs to be irrigated, particularly in lower latitudes of reduced precipitation in summer. Although hop fields have started to be drip irrigated all over the world, there is a long tradition of surface watering of this crop, by flooding the space between rows [1,2]. In this kind of surface or furrow irrigation system, water is applied at the top end of each furrow (in hops to the inter-row space) and flows down the field under the influence of gravity [3].…”