Common Name: Lovage

Latin name: Levisticum officinale L.

German name: Garten—Liebstockel

Description: Lovage (Levisticum officinale L.) is a perennial plant with a brown thick multi-headed rhizome from the Apiaceae family, reaching a height of 1.5 - 2 m. The leaf rosette and rhizome are formed in the first year, and the flowering stem, flowers and seeds - in the second and subsequent years. Levisticum prefers moist, well-cultivated soils rich in nutrients. The stems of the herb are tubular, hollow, with large dark green leaves. The plant blooms during the hot summer months (July and August) with beautiful golden-green inflorescences. The whole plant has a pleasant specific aroma. The seeds are flat, elliptical, yellow-brown in color. It is found growing wild mostly in the southern parts of the country. For cultivated plants: sowing is done in autumn and spring.

Used part of the plant: leaf (folium Levistici), root (Radix Levistici), seed (semen Levistici)

Collection time: Lovage leaves are harvested several times when they reach a length of 15-16 cm. from April to August while they are fresh and green. The roots are dug during the colder months from November to March, depending on the weather conditions.

Content and Properties: The various parts of the plant contain essential oils, eucalyptol, vitamins, mineral salts, organic acids, coumarin, lecithin, tannins and other nutritional ingredients.

Healing action and application: Lovage acts as a natural diuretic and stimulates the activity of the stomach. The medicinal plant has anti-inflammatory, soothing, expectorant, antibacterial and anthelmintic effects. The herb helps with arthritis, kidney and menstrual problems, with respiratory diseases, with parasites in the body. In folk medicine, the aromatic medicinal plant is used in the form of a decoction as an expectorant, carminative and sedative, for the treatment of urinary tract infections and anemia. Due to its pleasant aroma and stimulation of the gastrointestinal tract, Lovage is a main spice in cooking, both fresh and dried.

Opportunities for offering upon specific request of the client:

Vesselino Ltd. offers their customers the plant in the following varieties:

• root (Radix Levistici) - dried whole root, crushed root, cut to a certain size at the customer's request, powdered root

• leaf (Folia Levistici) - dried whole leaf, crushed leaf, cut to a certain size at the customer's request, ground into powdered leaf