Healer hyssop – a perennial semi-shrub up to 60 cm high, valued for its medicinal properties and aromatic qualities. The leaves, roots, and upper flowering parts of the plant possess expectorant, antipyretic, spasmolytic, and wound-healing effects. Due to its antimicrobial properties, hyssop is used for purulent skin lesions, as well as in folk medicine for treating diseases of the upper respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, rheumatism, and urinary tract.
In cooking, hyssop is used as a spice with a bitter-spicy taste and refreshing aroma. It grows easily in sunny places with moderately moist, loose soil and does not require special growing conditions. The green harvest season begins in the second year of growth and lasts about 30 days; for spices – up to 115 days.
For preparing medicinal preparations from hyssop, a decoction is usually used: crushed leaves are poured with boiling water, steeped for 15–20 minutes, and then taken in one-third of a glass three times a day. With proper storage, dried herbaceous material retains a pleasant savory aroma and characteristic camphor taste. Hyssop is also used for gargling the throat during coughing, and boiled solutions are used as a remedy for rinsing eyes and treating stomatitis.
