OriginFrom the monastery garden to oblivion and back
Horehound was a staple in every medieval medicinal garden - and two hundred years later it had almost disappeared from pharmacies.
Marrubium vulgare It is a greyish-white, felt-like member of the mint family with wrinkled, rounded leaves and small whorls of white flowers in the leaf axils. It originates from the Mediterranean region and Western Asia, grows on dry, poor soils, along roadsides, walls, and waste ground, and has been widespread in Central Europe since antiquity as an escapee from cultivation. The white, felt-like hairs provide protection against drought and make the plant unmistakable – they feel like thin felt.
Its career as a medicinal plant is impressively long. Egyptian sources mention it, Dioscorides describes it as a cough remedy, and Charlemagne included it in his... Capitulare de villis Hildegard von Bingen recommended cultivating it, and it was a staple in medieval monastery gardens. In England, it became a confectionery. horehound candy, A cough drop made from horehound extract and sugar, which can still be found in old-fashioned confectionery shops today. The principle is the same as with licorice – you make the medicine edible by sweetening it.
Then it disappeared. In the 19th and 20th centuries, more effective, or at least better-tasting, remedies displaced horehound from practical use, and it became one of those plants found only in old herbals and no longer in any pharmacy. The selection of horehound as the medicinal plant of the year 2018 by the Würzburg Study Group partially reversed this trend. It was explicitly intended as a rediscovery – a plant with a long history of use, for which there is now an EMA monograph, but which practically no one knew anymore.
To useTwo applications, one operating principle
The European Medicines Agency lists horehound in a monograph with two indications, both as traditional use: erstens als Expektorans bei Husten im Rahmen einer Verkühlung, zweitens bei vorübergehenden Appetitlosigkeit und leichten Verdauungsbeschwerden wie Völlegefühl und Blähungen. Die Kommission E hatte 1990 eine positive Monographie mit denselben zwei Richtungen ausgestellt. Dass eine Pflanze für Husten und für Verdauung gleichzeitig steht, ist ungewöhnlich - bei Andorn hat es einen gemeinsamen Grund.
The reason lies in the bitter substance. Marrubiin is a diterpene lactone and one of the bitterest natural compounds in European flora. Bitter substances trigger a whole chain reaction via the taste receptors on the tongue and further down in the digestive tract: increased production of saliva, gastric juices, and bile, and improved gastric motility. This is the digestive aspect, and it is the same for all bitter herbs. The same reflex pathway comes into play with coughing as we described for primrose: mild irritation of the gastric mucosa increases secretion in the bronchi via the vagus nerve, the mucus becomes thinner and easier to cough up.
Recent studies are taking a closer look at marrubiin and related diterpenes. In the laboratory, they show anti-inflammatory, vasodilatory, and blood sugar-lowering effects, and there are animal models of pain and inflammation. This research is the reason why horehound is receiving renewed attention. However, these are laboratory findings and animal studies – they do not imply any application for humans, and we explicitly do not present them as such.
Controlled human studies are scarce. The EMA bases its classification on centuries of documented use, not on evidence of efficacy; that is precisely what traditional use bedeutet. Für die Praxis heißt das: Andorn ist eine sinnvolle, gut verträgliche Option bei festsitzendem Verkühlungshusten und bei träger Verdauung, wenn man den Geschmack aushält. Er ist kein Asthmamittel, kein Blutzuckermittel und keine Behandlung für anhaltenden Husten.
IngredientsMarrubiin and the rest
The key compound in horehound is marrubiin, a diterpene lactone—a class of substances common in the mint family (Lamiaceae), which also includes the bitter compounds of sage and rosemary. The way marrubiin is formed is curious: in the living plant, the precursor premarrubiin is predominantly present, from which the actual marrubiin is formed during drying and processing. Dried horehound is therefore more bitter than fresh—one of the few drugs where drying does not degrade the active ingredient, but rather creates it.
In addition, the herb contains other diterpenes such as marrubenol and vulgarol, phenylpropanoids like acteoside and forsythoside, flavonoids, tannins, and a small amount of essential oil. This low oil content distinguishes horehound from most other members of the mint family: sage, thyme, and rosemary rely on their essential oils, while horehound derives its flavor from its bitter compounds. Consequently, it has hardly any scent – those who rub it expect an aroma but get almost nothing.
This has a practical consequence for preparation. Bitter substances are water-soluble and heat-stable; an infusion reliably extracts them, and there's no need to cover anything because no essential oil escapes. If you want the active ingredient, you have to accept the taste – any attempt to make the tea less bitter simultaneously weakens it. This is true for all bitter herbs and is particularly pronounced with horehound.
When harvesting: The flowering herb is harvested from June to August, taking only the upper shoots and removing the woody lower stems. The plant is easily recognizable by its wrinkled, greyish-white, felt-like leaves, its square stem, and its whorls of white flowers with their characteristically hooked, recurved calyx teeth. These hooks cling to clothing – a reliable identifying feature and the reason why the plant spreads so readily.
Enhanced combinationsHow horehound can be made tolerable and useful
With such a bitter plant, almost every combination revolves around two questions: How do you get it down, and what complements it well?
Thymian bringt ätherisches Öl, wirkt krampflösend und schmeckt kräftig genug, um etwas von der Bitterkeit zu überdecken. Zusammen decken sie den festsitzenden Verkühlungshusten gut ab.
While horehound loosens and irritates, ribwort plantain coats the sore throat with mucilage. This makes the mixture significantly more pleasant, especially if the cough has persisted for several days.
The historical solution: horehound candy It is nothing more than sweetened horehound extract. Honey added to tea cooled below 40 degrees Celsius has additional benefits for coughs.
For the bitter aspect: as a digestive bitter before meals, in small amounts. Those who choose this path need no persuasion – this is intentional bitterness.
When it comes to bloating, the carminative umbelliferous fruits complement the bitter horehound: it stimulates, they relax. And they noticeably improve the taste.
A homemade syrup with honey transforms even the most difficult tea plant into a preparation that can be consumed by the spoonful - and is also the more durable form.
What contradicts itselfIt's best to avoid these combinations.
As an expectorant, horehound only worsens the irritation in a cough without phlegm. For a dry, irritating cough, marshmallow, mallow, or ribwort plantain are the right remedies.
The mechanism of action involves irritation of the stomach lining. In cases of inflamed mucous membranes, reflux, or ulcers, this is precisely the wrong stimulus.
The EMA advises against its use due to a lack of data, and traditionally, horehound was considered to promote menstruation in larger quantities. During this time, other herbs for coughs should be used instead.
Large quantities can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea—the usual reaction to very high amounts of bitter substances. The monograph dose of approximately 4.5 g daily is the upper limit.
Animal studies suggest a blood sugar-lowering effect, but this is unclear in humans. This should be discussed in conjunction with diabetes medication.
The EMA monograph recommends its use only for children aged twelve and older. For younger children, there are milder and better-researched herbal cough remedies.
ApplicationFrom bitterness to candy
- Cough tea1.5 g of herb per cup, steep for ten minutes - the basic application, and the most bitter.
- Cough syrupA strong infusion thickened with honey. The traditional and most practical form.
- cough dropHorehound candyHorehound extract cooked with sugar to make candy mass - the English solution to the taste problem.
- stomach bittersA small, very bitter infusion 15 minutes before meals, for the digestive side of the plant.
- tincture20 to 30 drops in water. Still bitter, but quickly over.
- Tea blendMit Thymian und Spitzwegerich zu gleichen Teilen als Verkühlungsmischung im Vorratsglas.
- herbal liqueurHorehound is one of the bittering components in several traditional bitter liqueurs - but in very small quantities.
- DryingDry the flowering shoot tips in the shade. Unlike usual, the active ingredient only develops during this process.
- storageStore in a dark, dry place for up to two years. Bitter substances are significantly more stable than essential oils.
- GardenAs a drought-tolerant plant, it is a good choice for gravel beds - and a long-lasting source of bee pasture.
As a home remedyHorehound syrup - the form in which it is actually consumed
Cough syrup made from horehound herb and honey
- Place 30 g of dried horehound in 500 ml of water and simmer gently, covered, for ten minutes. Unlike herbs containing essential oils, cooking does not harm this herb.
- Remove from heat, let steep for another twenty minutes, then strain through a fine sieve or cloth and squeeze the herbs well.
- Reduce the extract uncovered by about half. It will darken and become even more bitter – that's how it should be.
- Allow to cool to below 40 degrees Celsius. Only then stir in approximately the same amount of honey until everything is evenly dissolved. Honey loses its enzymes at temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius.
- Pour into clean, small bottles, label and date them. The syrup will keep in the refrigerator for about two to three months.
- Take one teaspoonful three to four times a day, letting it dissolve slowly in your mouth so that it passes through the throat. For children aged twelve and over; younger children only under medical advice.
Bei festsitzendem, zähem Husten im Rahmen einer Verkühlung. Alternativ, in kleinerer Menge vor dem Essen, für die zweite Monographie-Anwendung: Appetitlosigkeit und Völlegefühl.
This equates to approximately 4.5 g of the herb per day. For a maximum of two weeks. Do not use if you have gastritis or stomach ulcers, during pregnancy or breastfeeding, or for children under twelve years of age. Cough lasting longer than three weeks, fever, shortness of breath, or blood in the sputum should be evaluated by a doctor.
Ayurveda & TCMWhat the old systems say
Ayurveda
Horehound is not mentioned in classical Ayurveda – it is a Mediterranean plant with a European history of use. However, the function it fulfills is a central concept in Ayurveda: bitter substances, tikta rasa, are considered to have a cleansing effect there, Kapha- and pitta-lowering and digestive-stimulating - precisely the category into which horehound falls according to European understanding. The bitter plants bearing this name there are different, for example. Neem and Kutki.
Traditional Chinese Medicine
The Chinese materia medica lacks Marrubium vulgare. Its dual profile—a bitter substance that simultaneously transforms phlegm and stimulates the digestive system—corresponds most closely to the bitter-cool herbs in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which "clear heat and dry dampness." The fact that a single plant is associated with both coughs and digestion in Europe is no coincidence, but follows the same thought pattern as the Chinese association of bitterness with both areas.
Warning noticesWhen you should be careful
Please note
- Not suitable for gastritis: The mechanism of action involves irritation of the stomach lining. White horehound is unsuitable for cases of gastritis, reflux, or stomach ulcers.
- Not suitable for dry, irritating coughs: An expectorant without mucilage will only increase the irritation. Then switch to mucilage-containing plants such as marshmallow, mallow, or ribwort plantain.
- Only for ages 12 and up: The EMA monograph does not recommend its use in children under twelve years of age. Milder alternatives are available for younger children.
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding: Do not use due to lack of data; traditionally, horehound was considered to promote menstruation in larger quantities.
- High doses are irritating: Taking significantly more bitter substances than recommended can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Adding more bitter substances provides no additional benefit.
- Persistent cough: A cough lasting longer than three weeks, fever, shortness of breath, blood in the sputum or weight loss are not a case for self-treatment.
This page provides information and does not replace medical advice. If symptoms persist, please consult a doctor.
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SourcesWhat is this based on?
- European Medicines Agency, HMPC: European Union herbal monograph on Marrubium vulgare L., herba - traditional use.
- Commission E, Monograph „Marrubii herba“, Federal Gazette No. 22 of 01.02.1990.
- Study Group on the Developmental History of Medicinal Plant Science, University of Würzburg: Medicinal Plant of the Year 2018 - Horehound.
- Lodhi S. et al.: Marrubium vulgare L.: a review on phytochemical and pharmacological aspects. Journal of Pharmacy Research 2017.
- Blaschek W. (ed.): Wichtl - Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals, Chapter Marrubii herba.
