Nettle: From Weed to Green Enterprise

Dear Colleagues,

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) is a perennial, low-input, herbaceous plant that grows in the wild throughout the temperate and cooler parts of the world. The intertwined history of nettle and human beings can be traced back to prehistoric times. Preferring moist, nitrogen- and phosphate-rich soils, it thrives well in the backyard of human habitation. As it is easily available and particularly rich in bioactive compounds, minerals, and vitamins, it has been utilized for food, feed, medicine, cosmetics, and agriculture. Its silky fibers have also been used since ancient times for textiles, but abandoned in the cotton era.

Despite its contemporary reputation as a weed, stinging nettle is currently experiencing a revival, and is being reestablished as a beneficial crop. Its wide geographical distribution, low input requirements, few known pests and diseases, frost tolerance, and resilience to drought, makes it as an interesting alternative crop in many countries. Nettle has numerous potential applications in many sectors, but this advantage can also become a challenge when designing profitable value chains. Field establishment, cultivation, harvesting, and post-harvest processing, are all steps still requiring optimization.

However, there is growing research and widening commercial interest in employing nettle in more sustainable economies. This Special Issue aims to gather recent research related to the nettle value chain, from the natural variability and variety of nettle origins to product development and testing. Researchers are invited to submit original research articles and reviews that explore different topics within this broad context, such as plant morphology, physiology and resource allocation, genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, and processing (for example, the post-harvest processing effect on raw material properties, bioactive compounds or fiber extraction, etc.).

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Françoise Martz
Prof. Dr. Michel Chalot
Guest Editors

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