Mullein Benefits: What the Research Actually Shows
Mullein is one of the oldest folk remedies still in common use, and one of the most widely studied plants you have probably never heard of. It grows wild across most of the United States, it has been used on three continents for centuries, and there are hundreds of published papers examining what is in it.
By Daniel Yoder, Yoder's Organics. Last updated 1 October 2026.
We use mullein leaf in two of our tinctures, so we have read the research properly rather than repeating what everyone else says. Here is what it is, what is in it, what the studies have found, and how to tell a good mullein product from a poor one.
What mullein actually is
Common mullein, Verbascum thapsus, is the tall roadside plant with soft grey-green leaves and a single yellow flower spike that can reach two metres. If you live almost anywhere in the United States you have walked past it. It grows in poor soil, on verges, in pasture, on waste ground, which is exactly why it became a folk remedy. It was free and it was everywhere.
It is native to Europe, western and central Asia and northern Africa, and a 2022 review in Phytotherapy Research records that settlers carried it to the Americas and Australia deliberately, because they valued it enough to bring it with them. Plants do not get transported across oceans by accident.
What is in a mullein leaf
This is the part most articles skip, and it is the most interesting.
That same review lists flavonoids, saponins, iridoid and phenylethanoid glycosides, tannins and vitamin C among the compounds in mullein leaves and flowers. Several of those are the same classes of compound found in plants that have gone on to become well-studied medicines, which is precisely why researchers keep coming back to it.
The iridoid and phenylethanoid glycosides are the ones that get the most attention. They are not unusual compounds, but mullein is unusually rich in them, and that is what separates a plant people happened to use from a plant worth studying.
What mullein has traditionally been used for
An earlier review of the research on common mullein records a long and consistent history of use for chest complaints and coughs, alongside inflammatory conditions, digestive upset and headaches. In Indian traditional medicine the dried leaves, flowers and extracts appear in several preparations, and a root extract has been used for toothache.
What is striking is the consistency. Separate cultures, on different continents, without contact, arrived at broadly the same uses. That is not proof of anything in a modern clinical sense, but it is a real and unusual pattern, and it is why mullein is still here when most folk remedies are not.
What the research has found
Most of what gets written about mullein benefits is either vague or overstated, so here is the published work itself, and the stage each finding is at.
| Finding | Stage of research |
|---|---|
| Antioxidant activity | Laboratory assay |
| Activity against several bacteria, including resistant strains | Bacterial culture |
| Relaxed smooth muscle contractions | Isolated tissue |
| Activity against parasitic worms | Laboratory |
| Antiviral and anti-inflammatory activity | Laboratory and animal |
The smooth muscle finding is the one worth explaining, because it is the most often stretched. Researchers working with isolated tissue found that a mullein extract relaxed contractions in a section of rabbit intestine. That is a real result about real tissue, and it is the kind of finding that justifies further work.
The antibacterial work is similar. A 2020 paper in Medicinal Chemistry found that mullein extract showed activity against several bacterial strains in culture.
This is where plant medicine generally sits. The laboratory and animal work is done, and the large controlled human trials are the expensive step that rarely gets funded for a plant nobody can patent. That is true of most herbs on the shelf, not just this one.
Mullein for lungs, and why people have always reached for it
This is what almost everyone wants to know, and the answer is the reason mullein is in our tincture.
Mullein is traditionally used to support respiratory comfort and clear, easy breathing. That is not a modern marketing angle. It is what the plant has been used for across Europe, Asia and North America, independently, by people who had no contact with one another.
That matters more than it might sound. Thousands of plants have been tried for the chest over the centuries and almost all of them have been forgotten. Mullein is one of the few that separate cultures arrived at on their own and then kept using. A remedy that useless would not have survived that long in that many places.
Why mullein in particular
The chemistry gives a reason. Mullein leaf is rich in saponins and mucilage, two things that matter here.
Mucilage is the soft, slightly slippery substance that gives the leaf its texture. In traditional practice it is what mullein was valued for when the throat and chest felt rough. Saponins are the group of compounds associated with loosening and moving what sits in the chest, and mullein has them in quantity.
Researchers have also documented anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activity in the extract. That is the laboratory catching up with what herbalists worked out by observation a long time ago.
That chemistry is also why mullein drops for lungs became the common form. A liquid extract pulls the saponins and mucilage out of the leaf and leaves the irritating hairs behind, which an unstrained cup of tea does not.
What about a mullein lung cleanse or mullein lung detox?
Those are the phrases people search, so here is a straight answer. Your lungs clear themselves. They have a built-in mechanism for it, and no herb replaces that or needs to.
What mullein is traditionally used for is supporting that process, making the chest feel clearer and breathing feel easier. That is a different and much more honest claim than a detox, and it is the one that has actually stood up for several centuries.
If you have a diagnosed condition or symptoms that persist, talk to your doctor. Mullein sits alongside that, not instead of it.
Is mullein safe?
Mullein side effects are the next fair question. It has a long record of ordinary daily use without a pattern of serious harm, which is reassuring.
Two practical things worth knowing:
- Allergic reactions are possible but uncommon. A case report in Contact Dermatitis describes a skin reaction from a related Verbascum species.
- The fine hairs on the leaf are an irritant. This is why mullein tea is traditionally strained through cloth, and it is a good practical reason to prefer a properly prepared extract over loose leaf.
As with anything: ask your doctor first if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or managing a health condition.
Tea, tincture, capsule or smoke?
People take mullein four ways, and the differences are practical.
- Tea is the traditional method. It needs straining because of the leaf hairs, and the strength varies with every cup you make.
- Tincture is a liquid extract taken by dropper. It keeps for years, needs no preparation, and the amount is consistent every time.
- Capsules are convenient but fixed. You get whatever the manufacturer decided, and often they will not tell you how much that is.
- Smoking it is a traditional practice in some places. We would not recommend inhaling combustion products of any kind.
For daily use, a tincture is the most practical of the four, which is why we make one.
What to check before you buy any mullein product
This is useful whoever you buy from.
- Find the actual amount. Turn the bottle over. If the label names mullein but gives no quantity, you do not know what you are getting.
- Watch for the words proprietary blend. That phrase lets a company list ingredients without disclosing how much of each is in there.
- Check the serving size, not the servings per container. A sixty count bottle at two per serving is a thirty day supply.
- Look for the whole ingredient list. If a company will not print what is in the bottle, that tells you something before you have even tasted it.
Why we use mullein
Mullein leaf is in two of our tinctures, and we chose it deliberately.
Elderberry Soothe & Defend pairs mullein leaf with whole elderberries, nettle leaf, ginger root, cinnamon bark and clove, in an alcohol-free vegetable glycerin base. Mullein and elderberry have been used together for a very long time, and that pairing is the reason the formula looks the way it does.
Thunder Cleanse includes mullein among eighteen named botanicals.
We make both by hand in Holmes County, Ohio, about 200 bottles at a time, and every botanical is named on the label. You can read the whole list before you buy, which is more than most will give you. More about the family and how we make things.
Frequently asked questions
What is mullein good for?
Mullein is traditionally used to support respiratory comfort and clear, easy breathing, and that history runs across several cultures and several centuries. The laboratory research has found antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activity in the extract, and the leaf is rich in saponins and mucilage.
Is mullein good for a cough?
Soothing a rough chest and an irritated throat is the oldest use there is for the plant. Mullein for cough is the most consistent entry in the traditional record, recorded across every culture that used the plant. The mucilage in the leaf is what it was valued for.
How do you use mullein for lungs?
The traditional answer on how to use mullein for lungs is as a tea, strained through cloth to catch the leaf hairs. A tincture does the same job without the preparation, and gives you the same amount every time rather than a different strength with every cup. One dropper a day, with a meal.
Can you take mullein every day?
It has a long history of regular daily use without a recorded pattern of harm. If you plan to take it for months, mention it at your next appointment, which is good practice with any supplement.
Is mullein a weed?
Yes, and that is part of its appeal. It grows freely on roadsides and waste ground across most of the United States, which is exactly why it became a folk remedy. It was free, it was everywhere, and people worked out what to do with it.
Does mullein have side effects?
Allergic skin reactions are documented but uncommon. The leaf hairs can irritate, which is why tea is strained. It is generally well tolerated.
Mullein tea or mullein tincture?
Tea is traditional and needs straining, and the strength changes every time you make it. A tincture keeps for years, needs no preparation, and gives you the same amount every day. For a daily routine the tincture is the practical choice.
How much mullein is in your tincture?
Mullein leaf is one of seven botanicals in Elderberry Soothe and Defend, all of them named on the label, alongside whole elderberries, nettle, ginger, cinnamon, clove and sweet orange peel.
More answers on our FAQs page. We took the same approach to another ingredient in CBG vs CBD.
Sources
- Turker AU, Gurel E. Common mullein (Verbascum thapsus L.): recent advances in research. Phytotherapy Research. 2005;19(9):733-739. doi:10.1002/ptr.1653
- Gupta A, Atkinson AN, Pandey AK, Bishayee A. Health-promoting and disease-mitigating potential of Verbascum thapsus L. (common mullein): A review. Phytotherapy Research. 2022;36(4):1507-1522. doi:10.1002/ptr.7393
- Ali N, Ali Shah SW, Shah I, et al. Anthelmintic and relaxant activities of Verbascum thapsus mullein. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2012;12:29. doi:10.1186/1472-6882-12-29
- Mahdavi S, Amiradalat M, Babashpour M, Sheikhlooei H, Miransari M. The antioxidant, anticarcinogenic and antimicrobial properties of Verbascum thapsus L. Medicinal Chemistry. 2020;16(7):991-995. doi:10.2174/1573406415666190828155951
- Iparraguirre Castro A, Blanco Carmona J, Garcia Gonzales F, Bascones Nestar O. Occupational airborne dermatitis from gordolobo (Verbascum densiflorum). Contact Dermatitis. 2006;55(5):301. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0536.2006.00923.x
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. This article is general information, not medical advice.