LOVAGE: Overview, Uses, Side Effects, Precautions, Interactions, Dosing and Reviews (2024)

FAQs

What are the medicinal uses of lovage? ›

As a medicinal plant, lovage has been used as a digestive, carminative, diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, anti-dyspeptic, expectorant, stimulant and stomachic; and also as a treatment for jaundice. Current medicinal applications include use as a diuretic and for regulation of menstrual cycle.

When taken by mouth: Lovage is LIKELY SAFE for most people when used in amounts commonly found in foods. It is POSSIBLY SAFE for most people when taken as a medicine in appropriate amounts, short-term. Taking lovage may increase sensitivity to the sun.

Also known as sea parsley, the leaves and stem of the lovage plant add an intense celery-like flavour to soups, stews and stocks or pork and poultry dishes. It can also be used to enhance the flavour of potato dishes. Potatoes love lovage: this celery-like garden herb is a match made in heaven with new potatoes.

Lovage has a spicy, celery-like scent, and has traditionally been used as a flavouring in fine liqueurs. The essential oil supports the circulatory system, fluid balance and digestion. It stimulates the appetite for those who have lost interest in food. It can also be used in a blend for abdominal massage.

Due to its resemblance in appearance and flavor to celery, lovage is often referred to as mountain celery. It's also known as smellage or Maggi plant.

Pick leaves and seeds as you like, prioritising the tender young leaves, which are best for eating raw. The hollow stems are like soft bamboo and make a fine flavoured straw for a Bloody Mary.

In addition to the uses listed above, preliminary study results back up some of the touted uses of lovage: Diuretic effect6. Antibacterial effect. Anti-inflammatory effect.

Substitutions for Lovage

While nothing will give you quite the same punch as lovage, a combination of celery, parsley, and celery seed (perhaps with a bit of lemon zest) will put you in the same ballpark. You might also try a bit of celeriac (another woefully underused root) to achieve that intense celery flavor.

High in quercetin, Vitamin C, and B-vitamins - Like all green leafies, lovage is packed with nutrition. UTIs & kidney health - Lovage is a natural diuretic that boosts urination without electrolyte loss. This system flush can keep things healthy and moving.

It is also used as an expectorant to loosen phlegm in respiratory conditions. In foods and beverages, lovage is used as a flavor component.

What is another name for the herb lovage? ›

Levisticum officinale (Lovage, Maggi plant) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox.

Lovage flowers attract small parasitic wasps. These wasps lay their eggs inside other bugs - when the egg hatches, the larva eats its way out through its host. It is because of this, having flowering lovage in your garden is actually good for deterring pests that might bother other plants.

Its flavour and smell are reminiscent both of celery and parsley, only more intense and spicy than those of either. The seeds can be used as a spice in the same way as fennel seeds.

Choose a planting site in light shade for preference, although lovage will also be fine in full sun. Most soils are suitable, but lovage grows best in rich soil that receives regular rainfall but doesn't get waterlogged, so dig a bucket or two of garden compost or well-rotted manure into the planting area.

To answer a frequently asked question right away: yes, lovage and “maggi herb” are one and the same plant. Though lovage in the 16th century in fact was commonly used in love potions, the word itself has nothing to do with “love”. “Lovage” derives in a rather roundabout way from the Latin name levisticum.

Strip large, mature leaves from the stalks before cooking – the stalks can be chopped and cooked separately. Young leaves and stalks can be kept whole. To harvest lovage seeds, pick the seed heads as they start to turn brown, place in a paper bag and hang upside down in a dry airy place.