Taraxacum officinale Pissenlit (the French word for dandelion, literally meaning "wet the bed") made by Brasserie Fantôme in Belgium. Dandelion and burdock is a soft drink that has long been popular in the United Kingdom. Another recipe using the plant is dandelion flower jam. In Silesia and other parts of Poland and the world, dandelion flowers are used to make a honey substitute syrup with added lemon (so-called "May-honey"). Ground roasted dandelion root can be used as a non-caffeinated coffee substitute. Historically dandelion was prized for a variety of medicinal properties. It contains a wide number of pharmacologically active compounds. Dandelion contains
Taraxacum officinale be obtained from the flowers but little color can be obtained from the roots of the plant. "Taraxacum" is derived from the Arabic word ‘tarakhshagog’ (or 'tarakhshaqūn') for a bitter herb. It may be related to the Greek word ταρασσω (tarasso) meaning to disturb. "Officinale" means 'of the apothecaries' or 'medicinal'. Taraxalisin is a serine proteinase found in the latex of dandelion roots. Rudenskaya et al. (1998) found that taraxalisin hydrolyzes a chromogenic peptide substrate Glp-Ala-Ala-Leu-pNA optimally at pH 8.0. Maximal activity of the proteinase in the roots is attained in April, at the beginning of plant development after the