lovage

The plant belongs to the Umbrella family, the Lovage genus.

Among the people, this herbaceous plant has many names, and most of them are based on the word "love".

Lovage is called lyubist, beloved, love potion, love-grass, love potion, lyubchik.

Other plant names are:

• Levisticum officinale (lat.),
• Liveche (French)
• Lovage, Bladder seed
• Maggikraut, Suppenlob, Labstock (German)

• Lovage is a perennial, growing up to two meters in height.
• The root is thick and branched.
• The stem is hollow and round, of a bluish hue, and the leaves are pinnate and shiny, twice pinnately dissected below, and once below.
• Single lovage flowers, gathering, form complex umbrellas. They appear during the summer.
• Oval fruits begin ripening in September.
• The aroma is pronounced and resembles a ready-made seasoning from various spices and celery.

It is believed that the birthplace of lovage is Central Asia or the Mediterranean region.

The natural habitat of the plant is Afghanistan, as well as Iran. Since lovage tolerates different climates well, it is widely grown in different parts of the world.

Lovage roots are harvested at the age of three or four:

1. After digging them up in the fall, the roots should be washed in cold water, cut into pieces, and then dried in the shade, spread out in the open air.
2. You can also place pieces of roots in a dryer (temperature - 35 degrees).
3. You can also harvest lovage leaves, collecting them at any time from plants of any age.The collected leaves are dried in the shade at a low temperature so that they do not become less fragrant.

Other methods of drying the roots will result in a loss of fragrance due to the volatilization of the essential oils.

Dried roots should be powdered and placed in jars that will be tightly closed. You can store this spice for up to 24 months.

• Lovage has a spicy taste. If at first it is a little sweet, then later it becomes sharp and slightly bitter.
• The smell of the plant is pronounced, one of the strongest among herbs. It resembles celery, which is why one of its popular names is "winter celery".
• Before flowering, the roots are poisonous.

100 g contains:

• 20 kcal;
• 0.4 g fat;
• 7.6 g carbohydrates;
• 3.7 g of protein.

Watch the TV show "1000 and 1 Spice of Scheherazade" about lovage - you will learn a lot of interesting things.

Lovage contains:

• essential oil - from 0.1 to 2.7 percent in different parts of the plant;
• resins;
• Sahara;
• tannins;
• starch;
• acids - malic, angelic, ascorbic (found in leaves);
• furocoumarins;
• minerals, etc.

The benefits of lovage:

• has an analgesic effect;
• resists seizures;
• helps to separate sputum;
• soothes;
• has a bile, helminthic, wind and diuretic effect;
• stimulates wound healing;
• has an antibacterial effect.

The plant is poisonous during the flowering period, so it is impossible to collect it at such a time.

• Acute nephritis.
• Acute renal failure.
• Peptic ulcer of the gastrointestinal tract.
• Pregnancy.
• Uterine bleeding.
• Allergic reactions.
• Hemorrhoidal bleeding.
• Abundant menses.
• Inflammation of the ureters.

The essential oil of lovage has aphrodisiac properties. It can be applied to the skin to attract the opposite sex. It was used by women many years ago, but now research has called into question the use of lovage as an aphrodisiac.

Also aromatic oil from this plant is used in cooking.

The juice of the plant has a tonic and diuretic effect. Its use improves the digestive function, relieves colic, stimulates appetite, and helps to separate sputum. Also, lovage juice can be used as a laxative.

• Fresh leaves are added to stews, soups, cottage cheese.
• Dried roots, stems and leaves can be used to flavor marinades and drinks, as well as confectionery. In addition, they are added to dishes from vegetables, fish, cereals, poultry.
• Green oil is prepared from it, rubbing both the green parts of the plant and the dried and powdered leaves with salt and oil.
• Dry lovage is seasoned with gravies and sauces.
• By adding a little greenery to canned food, you will change their taste and add a peculiar aroma.
• Lovage is added to the seasoning for fish, taking this plant in equal parts in dried form, as well as yarrow and thyme.
• They can flavor the salt. To do this, grind the seeds of the plant in a coffee grinder and mix 1 to 1 with fine salt. Salt is well saturated with essential oil and retains aroma for a long time. It is added to vegetables and meat.
• Leaves of fresh lovage should be added to salads. They go well with cucumbers, sweet peppers, radishes, tomatoes.

Cut into pieces one or two cucumbers and two boiled eggs. Add chopped lovage greens (6-8 young leaves), dill (20 grams) and green onions (10 grams). Season with salt and mayonnaise.

Boil the roots of the plant (400 grams), and then grind in a meat grinder. Add one egg and three tables to the mass. tablespoons of flour, as well as salt to taste, mix well and form cutlets by rolling them in breadcrumbs. Fry on each side.

• The roots of the plant are recommended to be added to the diet for problems such as obesity, rheumatism, gallbladder and liver diseases.
• Scientific Russian medicine does not use lovage, but the plant is in the pharmacopoeias of some other countries.
• In ancient times, lovage was used as a means of stimulating the secretion of bile and urine.
• Traditional medicine uses the plant for diseases of the heart and respiratory organs, pyelonephritis, gout, anemia, nervous disorders, migraines, dropsy.
• Lovage is recommended for strengthening hair, with dandruff, age spots and freckles.
• The plant is effective for colic, bloating, constipation.
• With the help of lovage, impotence is treated.
• Infusion treats pustular rash on the skin and long-term healing wounds.
• A decoction of the fruits of the plant cope with worms.
• Applying fresh leaves to the head, relieve headaches.

Check out some recipes that include lovage.

Pour lovage roots (2 tablespoons) with 750 milliliters of water. Bringing to a boil, and boiling over low heat for ten minutes, leave for an hour and filter, then rinse your hair with this decoction after washing.

1. Decoction. Pour the roots of the plant (6 g) with a glass of water, then boil for 10 minutes on minimum heat. The broth should be insisted for 4 hours and filtered. Take before meals (half an hour) a tablespoon three times a day.
2. Infusion. Fill a tablespoon of lovage roots with 500 ml of boiling water, leave for one hour. After filtering, take half a glass before meals 4 times a day.

One table. Pour a spoonful of plant roots with 1/4 liter of boiled chilled water. After insisting for four hours and straining, take half a glass twice a day.

Bay two table. spoons of lovage roots 0.75 liters of water, heat to a boil, let it boil for ten minutes and leave for an hour. Draining the broth through gauze, take the liquid on the table. spoon half an hour before meals 3-4 times a day.

Take a medium-sized root, wash, dry a little and chop finely. Place the chopped lovage in a saucepan, add two bay leaves and pour in 200 ml of vodka. Let the mixture stand in a dark place for two weeks. The infusion is used instead of vodka at a dose of 1 glass per week. This causes an aversion to alcohol.

Gulf of tea. a spoonful of lovage seeds 150 ml of cold water, boil for 10 minutes and leave to cool. Strain through a sieve, take on the table. spoon three times a day.

After washing a 40-gram lovage root, let it dry, then finely chop, pour a liter of water and leave for 7-8 hours. After straining the infusion, take in small portions up to 1 liter per day.

The plant is used:

• as decorative;
• as an ingredient in perfumery products.

Such varieties of lovage are known as Leader, Semko, Hercules, Amur, Preobrazhensky and Don Juan.

Lovage is resistant to cold and frost, so the plant winters well. For the rapid emergence of seedlings, the seeds need a temperature of plus 20-25 degrees, and the soil must be sufficiently moist. Frosts can delay the emergence of seedlings, but plants from the second year of life grow early (from the end of April).

It is better to plant lovage in a sunny place in nutritious and loose soil. By planting the plant in the shade, you will also get growth, but the greens will be less fragrant. In soil with high acidity and close groundwater standing, lovage roots are often affected by rot. If the soil is too dense, the roots will grow more slowly.

The plant does not like waterlogging, but needs enough moisture when growing intensively. Then the above-ground mass will have a good harvest - you will get fragrant and juicy leaves. By not watering the plant during dry periods, you will see stiffer, smaller leaves that will turn yellow quickly. Often in this case, the lovage plunges into a dormant state until spring, but if the drought was in the summer and the autumn was long, the leaves may regrow.

The plant can be cultivated in one place for more than ten years, but it is still recommended to replace the lovage with younger plants every five to seven years. You can sow lovage both in early spring and before winter. Seeds are pre-soaked and then dried to give them a free-flowing state.

Do not forget that the plant is powerful enough, so a minimum of 70 centimeters is left between the beds, and seedlings are thinned out, leaving one plant every 15 centimeters in the first year. In the second year, they are removed through one plant, in the third - through one more, so that there are 60 centimeters between the plants, then the roots will be large enough.

If you wish, you can sow seedlings - in a greenhouse or even on a windowsill. After soaking the seeds, they are planted 3-4 pieces in pots, and when shoots appear, they leave one plant, water it and feed it with fertilizers, planting it in the ground in May (at the age of about 50 days).

Lovage is less susceptible to pests and diseases. The culture has septoria, damage by a carrot fly and aphids. To combat these problems, plants need to be planted in a new place and placed near onions. Lovage should not be treated with pesticides.