Wild roses might not look like the roses in romantic bouquets, but they are members of the Rosa genus. Wild roses such as Rosa rugosa, Rosa cinnamomea, Rosa woodsii and Rosa canina, also known as the dog rose, have open, wide petals that fully expose the stamens. Rose hips, the fruit of the wild rose plant, appear after blooming. These round or oblong fruits provide food for animals and humans. Rose hips also have high levels of vitamins and may mitigate certain health conditions.
Vitamin C
Rose hips are quite high in vitamin C. While the exact amount can vary by species, as an example, Rosa canina hips may hold as much as 1,250 mg of vitamin C per 100 g of hips. Drugs.com notes that citrus fruits may have only 50 mg of vitamin C, which is 25 times less vitamin C than in the rose hips. This makes rose hips another possible tool with which to fight off vitamin deficiencies and colds, although the German Commission E monographs say the amount of the vitamin disappears quickly. Tea and syrup are common rose hip preparations, and rose hip syrup was an essential source of vitamin C in Britain during World War II. Rose hips also contain concentrations of vitamins A and K; thiamine; riboflavin; niacin; flavonoids; carotenoids; and tannins.
Abdominal Effects
Folk remedies invoke rose hips as a diuretic, laxative and stomach soother. Both Drugs.com and the Commission E monographs call these claims unsupported, although Drugs.com notes the hips' supposed laxative properties may have something to do with the pectin, malic acid, citric acid or purgative glycosides, which are sugars that can have a laxative-type effect.
Arthritis
Rose hips may soothe arthritis and joint inflammation. A Danish study from 2008, conducted by R. Christensen and published in Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, found rose hip powder significantly lessened pain in patients with osteoarthritis. The study conducted three short-term trials in which subjects took a placebo or rose hip powder derived from Rosa canina for approximately three to four months. Those patients--in each trial--who had knee and hip problems and who took the rose hip powder reported the most relief. Another study from 2005, conducted by K. Winther and published in "The Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology," found that osteoarthritis patients taking rose hip powder experienced pain relief after only three weeks of treatment.
Osteogenesis Imperfecta
The ascorbic acid from rose hips showed promise as part of a treatment for brittle bone disease, or osteogenesis imperfecta, at one point. One study from 1974, published in the journal "Pediatrics," discovered that ascorbic acid derived from rose hips reduced the number of fractures in a group of children with brittle bone disease. However, the National Institutes of Health says vitamin C as a whole may no longer be an appropriate treatment.
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