The plant is originally from Western Asia, but has been cultivated since ancient times in Europe and later in North America, and some of it has gone wild. The plant material comes from cultures in Poland, some Balkan countries, Germany and Holland.
Lovage as a medicinal plant
In herbal medicine, one uses the dried underground parts of the plant, that is, the rhizome and roots (levistici radix). In rarer cases, the fruits and leaves are also used.
Characteristics of lovage
Lovage is a vigorous perennial plant up to 2 m tall, arising from a fleshy root. The leaves are double to triple pinnate and coarsely toothed. The small pale yellow flowers are arranged in double umbels.
Lovage roots as a medicine.
The drug material contains yellow to reddish-brown, soft root and rhizome pieces, often split lengthwise. In cross-section, the yellow to reddish-brown bark can be seen along with the excretory ducts. The ducts can be made out as fine brown, often shiny dots in the bark.
Smell and taste of lovage
Lovage emits a characteristic aromatic odor reminiscent of soup spice (hence the trivial name “Maggi herb”). The taste of lovage is initially spicy-sweet and then becomes faintly bitter.
