Parsley is thought to be native to the Mediterranean areas of Europe and western Asia, and is grown in several varieties there as well as in North and South America, India, Japan, South Africa, and Australia. The plant is used as a spice and in herbal medicine. The drug is extracted in Germany and partly imported from Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Parsley root in herbal medicine.
In herbal medicine, people mainly use the roots (Petroselini radix) and leaves (Petroselini herba), and more rarely the fruits (Petroselini fructus) of parsley. Since the therapeutic use of the parsley fruits is not justifiable, the following statements also refer only to the parsley root.
Parsley: special characteristics
Parsley is a biennial herb growing up to 1 m tall with curly or highly pinnate leaves and fleshy root. The wild form of the plant, for example, has noncurled, smooth leaves.
The inconspicuous, green-yellowish or sometimes reddish parsley fruits are arranged in double umbels; they appear in the second year.
Properties of parsley root
The root, cut lengthwise once, is about 15 cm long and 2 cm thick. The cut drug consists of yellowish-white to yellowish-red root pieces with wrinkled surface. In the bark, which can be seen in cross-section, dark brown shiny oil ducts can be seen.
The root exudes a peculiar aromatic odor. The taste of parsley root is sweetish and slightly spicy.
