Aromatic plants have been used since antiquity as seasoning ingredients to impart unique flavours to
foods, and also as folk medicines, and are currently used as a source of several compounds of interest for
different industries. Lovage (Levisticum officinale W.J.D. Koch) is an aromatic plant from the Apiaceae
family with a strong flavour that has long been used in culinary products, in traditional medicine and by
the food industry. Despite its significance and relevance, apart from its composition in volatile compounds,
there is a scarcity of information about this plant species. To the best of our knowledge, this
study documents for the first time the nutritional value and composition in fatty acids, organic acids and
tocopherols of the edible aerial part of lovage, evidencing a low caloric value, a predominance of polyunsaturated
fatty acids, mainly α-linolenic acid, oxalic acid as the most abundant organic acid and
α-tocopherol as the most abundant vitamin E isoform. The essential oil was mainly characterised by the
presence of monoterpenes, showing also a high abundance of phthalides. In addition, a total of 7 phenolic
compounds were identified in the decoction and hydroethanolic extracts, which showed interesting
antioxidant properties and bacteriostatic activity, particularly against Gram-positive bacteria. Only the
decoction showed cytotoxicity against a tumoral cell line (HepG2).
The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and
Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER under Programme
PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2019).
A. Fernandes, L. Barros and R. C. Calhelha contracts were provided
by National funding by FCT, P. I., through the institutional
scientific employment program-contract and
C. Pereira contract through the celebration of program-contract
foreseen in No. 4, 5 and 6 of article 23° of Decree-Law No. 57/
2016, of 29th August, amended by Law No. 57/2017, of 19th
July. This work was also funded by the FEDER-Interreg
España-Portugal programme through the project
0377_Iberphenol_6_E.
