Useful information

Medicinal lovage from tops to roots

Growing greens lovageLatin name lovage (LevisticumofficinaleKoch.) comes from the word ligusticum - "Ligurian", named after Liguria, one of the regions of Italy where this plant is abundantly found. The homeland of the plant is Southern Europe.

It has been known as a medicinal plant since ancient times. The Greeks and Romans used crushed seeds or their decoction to improve digestion. In Europe, lovage has been mentioned in herbalists since the 9th century. It has been used for almost all diseases, from heart disease to impotence. In England, tonic drinks were prepared from it, and from the roots something between candied fruits and jam, but mainly for medicinal purposes. Rhizomes and roots of lovage are included in the European Pharmacopoeia, where it is recommended as a carminative, appetizing and diuretic. The content of essential oil in fresh roots should be at least 4 ml / kg of raw material.

Previously, lovage was known as a powerful aphrodisiac. It is believed that if you put a lovage leaf in a man's food, then he is forever yours. There is a certain reason for this - pharmacologists have proven that its leaves contain a substance similar to the male hormone testosterone with a corresponding effect. In an experiment on guppy aquarium fish, the androgenic effect of lovage was noted.

So M.V. Rytov wrote about this plant: “Most preferred by the common people, as a root for a love drink, from which guys love girls. Other uses of the root of the dawn by the people are completely unfounded. " Popular names: garden dawn, piper, perennial celery.

Lovage is a perennial herb from the Umbrella family, up to 2 m tall, with a branched and fleshy root. The leaves are shiny pinnate and double-pinnate, the upper ones are trifoliate. Inflorescence is a complex umbel with 9-20 rays, flowers are small, yellow. It takes about 40 days from flowering to ripening. The fruit is a two-seed. The mass of 1000 seeds is 2.5-4.0 g. Germination is maintained for 5-6 years if stored at a temperature of + 10-16 ° C and for 2-3 years at room temperature. The whole plant has a strong smell, vaguely reminiscent of the aroma of celery.

Cultivation: Lovage is a cold-resistant plant that is not afraid of frost and perfectly overwinters in the Non-Chernozem zone. Seeds germinate at a temperature of + 3-4 ° C. But for seedlings to appear quickly and amicably, a temperature of + 20-22 ° C and a sufficient amount of moisture in the soil are required. Seedlings can withstand frosts of -5-7оС, and plants of the second and subsequent years of life begin to grow very early, in late April - early May. For planting lovage, it is preferable to choose a sunny place with a deep soil horizon, groundwater of at least 1 m and loose and nutritious soil. When planted in the shade, the plants grow well, but they are less aromatic. With a close standing of groundwater and high acidity of the soil, they are affected by root rot. In dense soil, the roots grow slowly and get gnarled. For all its dislike of waterlogging, this plant is demanding on the availability of a sufficient amount of water during the period of intensive growth. In this case, a large crop of aboveground mass is obtained, while the leaves are tender, juicy and fragrant. During a drought period without watering, the leaves become smaller, become tough, turn yellow quickly and the plant goes into a state of dormancy until next spring. Although with prolonged autumn, re-growth of leaves may occur. Especially if a drought happened in the first half of summer and the plants have faded at an accelerated rate and have borne fruit.

In one place, lovage can grow for more than 10 years, but it is still better to replace plants with younger ones once every 5-7 years.

Sowing can be carried out both in early spring and before winter with seeds previously soaked and dried to a loose state.It should be remembered that lovage is a powerful plant, and therefore the distance between the rows should be at least 70 cm, and it is better to thin out the seedlings, leaving for a start 1 plant every 15 cm.Next year, leave them after one, and after another year leave 60 cm apart. Such a peculiar scheme will allow you to get small roots already in the first year, and quite weighty roots in the second year for use for medicinal purposes.

After the emergence of seedlings, the most common care is loosening, weeding and watering is desirable. With sufficient moisture, lovage develops much faster, and it will be possible to cut greens in the first year in a couple of months. With gratitude, the lovage will accept feeding with a diluted mullein or complex fertilizers.

If there is space in the greenhouse or on the windowsill, you can sow seedlings. To do this, soak the seeds in the Epin-extra solution, as indicated on the packaging for dill or parsley, for about 6 hours. Then rinse with water and sow 3-4 pieces in a peat-melting pot. After the emergence of shoots, leave one of the strongest plants and put them on a light and not very warm windowsill. Seedling care is the most common - watering and feeding with complex fertilizers.

Seedlings are planted in the ground in mid-May after preliminary hardening and, in case of severe frosts, are covered with Agril or Spunbond. The preferred seedling age is 45-50 days.

Diseases and pests of lovage are little affected. On this culture, you can find septoria, which manifests itself in the form of yellow or light brown spots with a reddish-brown border, up to 10 mm in diameter.

Of the pests, the danger is, perhaps, only the carrot fly and aphid that settle on the testes. A sign of the appearance of a carrot fly is the appearance of a purple hue on the leaves and their further yellowing. Naturally, the damaged roots rot and become of little use as a medicinal raw material. The main method of struggle is to plant the plants in a new place each time and place them in the immediate vicinity of onion plants. You should not use pesticides on lovage.

Varieties: Cupid, Hercules, Don Juan, Leader, Preobrazhensky Semko.

Raw materials: For gastronomic purposes, the leaves can be harvested from plants of all ages and throughout the season. But the roots are preferably used up to 5 years of age. Old roots become gnarled, rot and difficult to clean.

The underground part is cut into 3-4 cm pieces, washed and dried at a temperature not higher than + 35 ° C, otherwise most of the essential oil will evaporate, and the aroma will greatly weaken. Dry roots are ground into powder and stored in well-closed jars, adding as needed to your culinary delights. The leaves are simply dried in the shade at a not too high temperature, otherwise they will lose their aroma.

This is a favorite spice of Ukrainian and German cuisines. Lovage is added to meat dishes made from beef and lamb, meat broths, vegetable dishes, marinades, fresh leaves are added to spring salads. In Czechoslovakia, a fragrant green oil is prepared with leaves. Dry, powdered leaves are ground with butter and salt.

A sandwich with black bread, butter, salt and fresh lovage leaves on top will be just wonderful.

For the winter, I recommend preparing a seasoning for fish from equal parts of dried savory, yarrow and lovage. Or you can take 2 parts of lovage leaves and cilantro, 1 part each of basil, mint and parsley. Grind everything, mix thoroughly and put in well-closing jars. And in winter you can enjoy the aromas of summer.

The salt flavored with lovage is very tasty. To prepare it, take the seeds, grind them into powder on a coffee grinder and immediately mix with fine salt in a 1: 1 ratio. Salt retains essential oil well and in this form, in a closed jar, the aroma remains for quite a long time. This salt is added to meat and vegetable dishes.

When adding lovage to salads of radish, cucumber, tomato, sweet pepper, only a few leaves are needed - after all, the plants are very fragrant and too intense a taste can only ruin the dish.

Chemical composition: The roots contain furocoumarins (psoralen, bergapten), which have a photosensitizing effect, lecithin (0.9%), falcarindiol (0.06%), resin, gum, starch, organic acids, 0.6-2% essential oil (up to 98 components , including butylphthalide, ligustilide, which is the main carrier of the characteristic odor, terpenes - α-terpineol, carvacrol, sesquiterpenes, isovaleric acid).

Greens contain up to 119 mg of ascorbic acid and 5 mg% carotene, bitterness. Like almost all green vegetables, lovage contains rutin, which has P-vitamin activity and strengthens the walls of blood vessels. The leaves contain a whole list of trace elements. In addition, they contain up to 1.3% of essential oil, and in seeds, its content can reach 2.5%.

Lovage rootsApplication: The essential oil contained in the plant causes increased diuresis. In addition, the decoction of the roots has a weak antispasmodic effect. It is used for chronic inflammatory processes in the kidneys and urinary tract. Its use for the treatment of urinary tract infections and in the presence of sand in the urine is approved by the German Commission E. Tincture of roots with alcohol or vodka acts most effectively as a strong diuretic and tonic.

A decoction of the roots is recommended for sexual weakness resulting from the abuse of smoking, alcohol, drugs. In addition, lovage is used for damage to the testicles as a result of infectious diseases - mumps, taxoplasmosis, brucellosis, tularemia.

Decoction of roots: 15 g of crushed raw materials pour 0.6 liters of boiling water, boil for 30 minutes under a lid in an enamel bowl, insist until cooled, drain. Take 1 tablespoon 3-4 times daily before meals.

Tincture of raw roots: Take 1 part of fresh roots and 3 parts of 60-95% alcohol. Insist 2 weeks. Take 1 tablespoon, diluted with a small amount of water 3 times a day before meals. It is better to swallow the tincture not immediately, but so that part is absorbed through the mucous membrane in the mouth.

Tincture of roots with alcohol or vodka acts most effectively as a strong diuretic and tonic.

Raw root keeps well in the refrigerator. Therefore, as a general tonic, 3-5 g of raw root can be chewed and eaten in the morning on an empty stomach. By the way, this remedy is good at eliminating bad breath.

Rooted rhizomes are used to treat alcoholism. In folk medicine, it is used in combination with bay leaves in order to develop a persistent vomiting reaction to alcohol.

The recipe for its use is given in a serious monograph by V.P. Nuzhny, V.V. Rozhanets, A.P. Efremov. "Medicinal plants and phytocompositions in narcology": 100 g of fresh roots are finely chopped, 1 liter of vodka is poured, 10 g of bay leaves are added, insisted for 3 days. Drink 1 glass 1 time per day. An hour later, vomiting begins, and the patient is asked to sniff or drink a small amount of alcohol. Lovage is contraindicated in acute glomerulonephritis, pyelonephritis and pregnancy.

The cosmetic effect of lovage is similar to that of parsley. It is used for whitening and to combat pustular skin problems.

With freckles: Take a teaspoon of powdered roots and leaves of lovage, pour 0.25 liters of cold water, stand for 1 hour, then boil for 10 minutes, cool, drain. With the resulting broth, wipe freckles and age spots 2 times a day for 2 weeks before the onset of sunny days.

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