Lovage medicinal - levisticum officinalis koch.

Family Umbelliferae.

Botanical characteristics. Stem is round, tubular, branched at the top, 100 - 250 cm in height; leaves are shiny, pinnate or double-bifid, with large obovate or rounded, on the apex with notched-toothed segments. Flowers are bisexual, regular, small, light yellow, five-petalled, collected at the top in complex umbrellas, surrounded at the base by multi-sheeted wrappers. Fruit is a yellow-brown two-seeded. Blooms in June - July. Fruits ripen in September.

Spread. The plant is found in the wild in the mountainous regions of Southern Europe. On the territory of Belarus, they reproduce in the front gardens, in the vegetable gardens as a decorative, spicy and medicinal plant. Known to the population for a long time, enjoys the legendary glory of a plant that can bewitch a loved one.

Used parts of the plant. For the manufacture of medicines, roots, grass, and plant seeds are used. The roots are harvested in the early spring or autumn, the grass is in the flowering period of the lover, the seeds are in full maturity. Raw materials are dried in a dryer or under a canopy in the shade. It is stored for two years.

The plant is used only in folk medicine. In some countries it is included in pharmacopoeias and is used as a component of diuretics.

Chemical composition. The roots of the plant contain furocoumarins (psoralen, bergapten), gums, gum, lecithin (0.9%), starch, malic and angelic acids, tannins and mineral salts. Leaves contain ascorbic acid, an essential oil (0.5-1%), in which cineole, D, alpha-tirpeniol, carvacrol, sextiterpene, ligustilide, acetic, isovaleric, oily and benzoic acids.

Contraindications. The use of lyubistok is contraindicated in pregnancy and kidney diseases.

Application in medicine

Indications for use are manifold. The plant is used in folk medicine as a diuretic, expectorant, soothing, analgesic, tonic heart activity, activating the sexual function with impotence, improving the course of the menstrual cycle in women remedy. Infusion and decoction of the roots are used for peptic ulcer of the stomach, duodenum, with flatulence, constipation, inflammatory diseases of the liver, bile ducts, cholecystitis, chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, diseases of the nervous system.

Root of the lover eat fresh with edema of cardiac origin, cystitis, gout, rheumatism, diabetic arthritis. If a child does not sleep well, is irritated, crying, people use baths from the herb of the herb.

Decoction of grass roots and freshly sour juice is used for skin diseases, allergic dermatoses, eczema, psoriasis. Gadgets are done with purulent wounds, rinses - with diabetic periodontal disease. Powder from freshly dried leaves of love is used for suppurating wounds, ulcers, bedsores at the same time with the use of infusion inside.

On the healing power of the plant, Odea from Mena mentions in her treatise: "The seeds have more strength in her roots ...

If it is chewed or drunk, the colic quickly heals or if the broth is cooked from the root and drunk ... " .

Decoction of the root lyubistok well strengthens the roots of hair. Healing baths from it are taken with skin diseases.

For a long time the drug lover has been used as a spice, is added to soups, salads, sauces, when pickling cucumbers and tomatoes.

• Decoction of the root lyubstoka medicinal : 1 tsp. Crushed dry root pour a glass of boiling water, boil for 10 minutes, insist. Filter, take 1 tbsp. L. 3 times a day with anemia and weakening potency.
• Powder from the root of the drug : Remove skin from the root, then dry it in a dryer or oven at a temperature of 45 - 50 ° C. Grind the dry root into powder. Use 1/2 tsp. 3 times a day before meals with impotence in a patient with diabetes mellitus or in the impoverishment of the menstrual cycle in women with diabetes mellitus with menopause.
• Infusion of herbs lyubstoka medicinal : 1 tbsp. L. Raw pour a glass of boiling water, insist 30 minutes in a warm place. Before use, filter, take 1 - 2 tbsp. L. 3 times a day before meals with peptic ulcer, gastritis.
• Decoction of herb lavender, bean leaves and horsetail grass : Prepare a mixture of equal parts of herbs for decoction. 1 tbsp. L. Mix the mixture with a glass of water, boil for 5 minutes, insist 30 minutes. Filter, drink a third cup 3 times a day before meals with diabetes.
• Infusion of the root lyubostoka medicinal : 1 tbsp. L. Dry shredded root lyubistok pour 1 liter of boiling water, 2 hours insist. Used for washing the head or bathing the baby.
• Juice from the leaves of the drug lover : Fresh leaves knead, squeezed out juice or ground into a gruel. A bandage moistened with juice, or with a lining of gruel is applied to the temporal region of the head with severe headaches.

Use in nutrition

Salad with lyubstokom medicinal

Fresh lenticum leaves and vegetables (potatoes, carrots, root of parsley, beets, onions) are passed through a meat grinder until a homogeneous mass is obtained. Season with vegetable oil, mix, serve, and sprinkle with dill.

• Lubistok - 50 grams,
• Potatoes - 60 g,
• Carrots - 20 grams,
• Beet - 30 g,
• Onion - 40 g,
• Dill - 10 g,
• Vegetable oil - 15 - 20 g,
• Salt and spices to taste.

Seasoning from the roots of the love drug

The roots are dried, pulverized. Store in a glass container with the lid closed. It is used as a seasoning for the first, second meat and fish dishes, in salads.

Dressing from the leaves of the drug liqueur

Fresh leaves of the plant are twisted in a meat grinder, salted in cans: for 1 kg of leaves 250 grams of salt. Store in a cool place. Use as an aromatic dressing in the first dishes.

Dry seasoning from medicinal and celery leaves

Dried leaves of lyubistok and celery odorous are ground into powder and equal amounts of it are mixed. Store in a glass container under the lid. Apply as an aromatic additive in the first dishes, when extinguishing meat, fish, put in sauces and mushrooms.