The Medicinal Herb Info site was created to help educate visitors about the often forgotten wisdom of the old ways of treating illnesses. Many of today's drugs and medicines were originally derived from natural ingredients, combinations of plants and other items found in nature.

We are not suggesting that you ignore the help of trained medical professionals, simply that you have additional options available for treating illnesses. Often the most effective treatment involves a responsible blend of both modern and traditional treatments.

We wish you peace and health!

Parsley

Scientific Names

Parsley

  • Petroselinum sativum L.
  • Umbelliferae
  • Umbel family

Common Names

  • Common parsley
  • Garden parsley
  • March
  • Parsley breakstone
  • Rock parsley
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    Parts Usually Used

    Fruits, berries, stems, leaves, and roots
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    Parsley

    Description of Plant(s) and Culture

    An erect, hairless perennial plant with a distinctive scent. It has shiny, pinnate leaves with triangular-lobed leaflets, often curled in cultivated plants. The small yellowish flowers grow in flat-topped, compound umbels, each with 8-15 smaller umbels. Fruits are egg-shaped, ridged, somewhat flattened.

    Other varieties: P. hortense; P. crispum; extra curled dwarf; neapolitanum; gigante; tuberosum; decora.

    The Chinese use the herb (Apium petroselinum) (“Inn sai” is the Chinese name) and call it parsley. Seems it is used similarly to Petroselinum sativum L.

    Some have categorized parsley as in the carrot family, some in the umbel family and yet others say it has its own parsley family. Let the reader choose or if anyone has proof of which is correct, please forward the information.
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    Where Found

    Cultivated and occasionally found growing wild in waste places or around buildings in eastern and Pacific areas of the United States and Canada. Gathering of wild parsley is not recommended.
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    Medicinal Properties

    Diuretic, carminative, anthelmintic, emmenagogue, expectorant, stimulant, antispasmodic, aperient, laxative, carminative
    Juice: febrifuge, promotes menstruation
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    Biochemical Information

    Apiin, apiol, bergaptein, calcium, fatty oil, flavone glycoside, furanocumarin bergapten, iodine, iron, isoimperatorin, mucilage, myristicene, volatile and essential oils, parsley camphor (apiin), petroselinic acid, phosphorus, pinene, potassium, and vitamins A and C.
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    Legends, Myths and Stories

    Some references claim that parsley belongs to the carrot family.
    It is claimed, when the parsley herb is rubbed against a glass goblet or tumbler, it will break it. The cause of this phenomenon is unknown.
    Rose bushes like for parsley to be grown near them, because they keep away rose beetles.

    Parsley is native to the Mediterranean region of Southern Europe and has been cultivated for more than 2,000 years. It was originally used as a medicinal plant (see below) prior to being consumed as a food. Ancient Greeks held parsley to be sacred, using it to not only adorn victors of athletic contests, but also for decorating the tombs of the deceased. While it is uncertain when and where parsley began to be consumed as a seasoning, historians think it may be sometime during the Middle Ages in Europe. Some historians credit Charlemagne with its popularization as he had it grown on his estates.
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    Uses

    Parsley is a sweet plant that contains a substance in which tumor cells cannot multiply. It is good for goiter, obesity, edema, dropsy, swollen glands, epilepsy, bed-wetting, fluid retention, rheumatism, sciatica, lumbago, jaundice, indigestion, asthma, coughs, colds, fever, gas, night blindness, swollen breasts, menstrual disorders, promotes onset of menses, snakebites, bruises, dropsy, eye infections, and worms. For thyroid, lung, stomach, bladder, gall stones, kidney stones, liver, and can be used to treat gravel and stones of the kidney. It also makes a good eyewash. It purifies the breath as well. The oil of parsley rubbed on the scalp is purportedly able to stimulate hair growth.
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    Formulas or Dosages

    A tisane of dried herb is made when fresh is not available.

    Eat raw or steep chopped leaves and stems in hot water. Drink 1 cup daily.
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    Nutrient Content

    Calcium, fatty oil, iodine, iron, phosphorus, rich in potassium, and rich in vitamins A and C. Rich in vitamins and minerals. Good source of chlorophyll. (Try it after eating onions or garlic)
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    How Sold

    Parsley tablets or fresh cut herb
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    Warning

    Do not use parsley if a kidney infection is present.

    Do not take parsley juice or oil if pregnant, it is a uterine stimulant.

    Best grown in the garden rather than gathered wild, since it resembles poisonous wild plants like Poison Hemlock.
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    Resource Links

    LiveStrong.com: Benefits of Juicing Parsley

    Drugs.com: Parsley

    BetterJuice.com: Parsley

    Natural Health Techniques: Parsley

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    Bibliography

    Buy It! The Nature Doctor: A Manual of Traditional and Complementary Medicine, by Dr. H.C.A. Vogel; Keats Publishing, Inc., 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. Vogel, Teufen (AR) Switzerland 1952, 1991

    Buy It! Back to Eden, by Jethro Kloss; Back to Eden Publishing Co., Loma Linda, CA 92354, Original copyright 1939, revised edition 1994

    Buy It! Indian Herbalogy of North America, by Alma R. Hutchens, Shambala Publications, Inc., Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973

    Buy It! Earl Mindell’s Herb Bible, by Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D., Simon & Schuster/Fireside, Rockefeller Center 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

    Buy It! The Herbalist Almanac, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1988, fifth printing, 1994

    Buy It! Culpeper’s Complete Herbal & English Physician: Updated With 117 Modern Herbs, by Nicholas Culpeper, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1990, (reprint of 1814)

    Buy It! Old Ways Rediscovered, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, published from 1954, print 1988

    Herbal Gardening, compiled by The Robison York State Herb Garden, Cornell Plantations, Matthaei Botanical Gardens of the University of Michigan, University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley., Pantheon Books, Knopf Publishing Group, New York, 1994, first edition

    Buy It!The Magic of Herbs, by David Conway, published by Jonathan Cape, Thirty Bedford Square, London, England. (Out of print)

    Buy It! Planetary Herbology, by Michael Tierra, C.A., N.D., O.M.D., Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. WI 53181., Copyright 1988, published 1992

    Buy It! American Folk Medicine, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973

    Buy It! Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Fifth Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements, by James F. Balch, M.D. and Phyllis A. Balch, C.N.C., Avery Publishing Group, Inc., Garden City Park, NY

    Buy It! Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023

    Buy It! An Instant Guide to Medicinal Plants, by Pamela Forey and Ruth Lindsay, Crescent Books (January 27, 1992).

    Buy It! Secrets of the Chinese Herbalists, by Richard Lucas, Parker Publishing Company, Inc., West Nyack, NY, 1987.

    Buy It! The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine, by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988.

    Buy It! The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book), edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. Emmaus, PA, 18049., 1974

    Buy It! Country Home Book of Herbs, Meredith Books, Editorial Dept. RW240, 1716 Locust Street, Des Moines, IA 50309-3023, copyright 1994

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