Wild lettuce (  Lactuca virosa  ), also known as “opium lettuce,” has been used for centuries in traditional medicine as a natural pain reliever and sedative. Although it does not contain opiates, its milky white juice, called lactucarium, has mild sedative and analgesic properties.

Wild lettuce contains lactucin and lactucopicrin, substances with relaxing and analgesic effects. It is thanks to these compounds that wild lettuce has earned its reputation as a natural remedy for pain, anxiety, and insomnia.

How do you collect wild lettuce juice?

Collecting sap requires patience and a good approach.

1. Identify the right plant.
✔️  Wild lettuce grows along roadsides, in meadows, and wastelands.
✔️It is characterized by tall stems (up to 1.5 to 2 meters) and spiny blue-green leaves.
✔️When injured, the stem secretes a milky white sap.

2. Harvesting the sap
✔️  : Choose mature plants: they contain more sap.
✔️Use a clean knife to cut the stem at the base.
✔️Collect the released sap with a spoon or scrape it onto a glass surface.
✔️Let it dry until it turns into a brownish resin.
✔️Store the dried sap in a tightly sealed container.