Lovage

Levisticum officinale Koch. – Lovage
Apiaceae – Celery family

The parts used in medicine include the lovage root and rhizome, harvested in the second or third year of vegetation in the autumn or early spring.

Lovage – appearance and origin:

It is naturally found in mountainous regions of Southeast Asia and in the south of Europe. Currently, it is grown in the whole of Europe, North America and many countries in Asia. In Poland, it has been known probably since the 17th century and is grown in home gardens and herbal plantations. Our climate favors lovage, so it grows well across the entire country.

In the first year of vegetation, lovage produces a thick rosette of dark green, shiny, celery-like leaves with long petioles and unipinnate or bipinnate laminae. In the next years, weakly leaved and upper branching shoots. The stems are round, ribbed, hollow inside, surrounded at the bottom by a rosette of basal leaves. Greenish-yellow, small flowers are clustered on the tops of shoots, forming an umbel. In our climate the blooming occurs in the latter half of June. The lovage fruit is a mericarp, which is easily divided into two oval, flattened achenes, commonly called seeds. The underground parts are the rhizome and the branching roots. The rhizome is short, laterally annular.

The pharmacopoeial raw material in lovage is the root along with with the roots Levistici radix. According to the Polish Standard, the rhizome thickness should be 3-8 cm, the root up to 3 cm, water content up to 12%, ash up to 8%, essential oil at least 0.7%. The raw material can contain up to 10% of roots with improper color and up to 3% of roots of inadequate size. Up to 1% of organic contaminants is allowed and up to 0.5% of mineral contaminants. The raw material is also the lovage leaf, harvested together with the petioles. The Polish Standard requirements are: moisture up to 12%, leaves of improper color up to 5%, no more than 2% of other plant parts. Allowed organic and mineral contaminant content 0.5 and 1% respectively. The lovage fruit is also used but predominantly as spice.

Lovage – effects and use:

Main therapeutic effects of lovage are tied to its essential oil. Its highest content is present in the fruit: from 1.0 to 2.7% of dry mass, in roots 0.5-1.5%, in leaves 0.14-0.45%. Lovage is distinguished from among other plants from the celery family by the accumulation of relatively high amounts of oil in the stems, up to 1.16%. The oil content is significantly dependent on the development stage of the plant. Studies show that the biosynthesis of these compounds lasts for the entire vegetation period, therefore the highest oil content is obtained in roots harvested in the second half of October. For leaves, the optimal harvesting period is mid-August, excluding annual plants, whose harvest should be delayed to the beginning of September.

The predominant fraction of the oil obtained from the roots are the phthalides, which give the plant its characteristic aroma and intense smell. Their total content equals around 70%, the most important one being cis-ligustilide whose content is 37.3-62.5%. Out of the other phthalides, cis- and trans-butylphthalide and sedanolide are of note. The oil in the roots also contains monoterpenes and a group of sesquiterpenes. Less important ingredients are coumarin compounds (psolaren, bergapten, coumarin), resins and acids: malic, chlorogenic and caffeic.

The main components of the leaf oil are terpinyl acetate and β-phellandrene, their content being 48-60% and 16-25% respectively. Other ingredients are α-Pinene, myrcene, limonene and sabinene. Additionally, it has been confirmed to contain ligustilide, umbelliferone and coumarin. The leaves are rich in ascorbic acid whose content exceeds 100 mg%.

Lovage – properties:

It has a weak diuretic effect; however, it is crucial in removing chloride, sodium and potassium ions from the body, and it enhances urea excretion.

It is used as an aid in treating kidney failure and as an ingredient of herbal granules recommended for urinary inflammation and urolithiasis.

Lovage has also found its use in treating menstrual disorders caused by contractions within the reproductive system.

It is used as a spasmolytic, due to the presence of the main oil ingredient, ligustilide. The substance causes the restoration of the proper gastrointestinal smooth muscle contraction and proper peristalsis. Products with lovage oil contributes to relieving pain caused by bowel cramps or gas accumulation in the bowels. Relaxation of smooth muscles of the bile duct and the consequent improved flow of bile to the duodenum are also observed.

It promotes the stomach's secretory activity and improves digestion. The essential oil also benefits the fermentation processes, having a mild bactericidal effect on saprotrophic bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract.

It is used for treating gastritis, indigestion and lack of appetite.

Moreover, baths with added decoction of the root and herb have disinfectant activity for skin inflammation and minor dermatosis.