Lovage (Levisticum officinale) has been used for medicinal purposes as early as the 14th century. In herbal medicine, it is used to expel flatulence (gas), induce perspiration, open obstructions, and to treat colic in children.
Lovage leaf essential oil benefits and uses include relieving amenorrhea, congestion, anaemia, cramps, dysmenorrhoea, gas, gout, indigestion, muscle pains, oedema, circulatory issues, rheumatism, muscle spasms, and oedema.
The fresh leaf has 0.5% to 1% essential oil, while the dried leaf has 0.2% to 0.5% essential oil, which is yellow amber to greenish colour.
For its antispasmodic applications it is best used when massaged into the skin. The essential oil should be diffused undiluted or applied directly after you have diluted it to your desired concentration in a skin care formula.
As an expectorant, it is believed to help loosen and expel phlegm, and is considered to be a useful medicinal herb for the treatment of respiratory problems.
The seed oil are used as flavouring in confectionery and liqueurs and the volatile oil extracted from the lovage root is used in perfumes, soaps and creams, and as a flavouring for tobacco products.
Lovage root oil is higher heart oil and has the ability to open the closed heart. This plant as an essential oil crop and is very expensive to cultivate.
The best oil comes from the root of established plants, so one must wait a few years to get good roots. For liver problems, you can make up a poultice with linseed adding 8 drops of lovage oil.
Place this hot on the area of the liver, keep warm, and repeat twice a day. Fast for the day as well, drinking only 1-2 cups of the above tisane, mixed with mint, at each of the three mealtimes.
Lovage oil should not be used during pregnancy, or in the case of kidney disease.
