Aniseed

Anise burnet saxifrage (Aniseed) - Pimpinella anisum L.
Incomparable aroma and refreshing sweet-spicy taste. Vegetable, medicinal, ornamental, honey plant.
Medicinal annual herb with erect, branched stem, 20-50 cm high. The flowers are small, white, in complex umbrellas.
Blooms from June to September. Prefers sunny areas, sandy loam or loamy soils.
The ripe fruit of anise is used, which contains an essential oil. Anise fruits are brewed like tea.
Anise fruit preparations delay putrefactive and fermentative processes in the intestines, relieve abdominal spasms, inhibit the development of microbes in the bladder, have expectorant and diuretic properties.

In the climatic conditions of Estonia, it is grown outdoors without any problems.
Seeds are sown in open ground in spring. Requires light soils. 1 gram = 2100 seeds.
Seed fruit, splitting into 2 halves.
Usage: use the leaves as a spicy seasoning for various dishes, seeds - in baking, for fish and meat dishes, confectionery.

Anise is harvested exclusively on cultivated plantations. When the fruits are fully ripe, the plants are torn or mowed, air dried and threshed.
The rounded-ovoid fruits of anise, like all umbellates, consist of two fruits, but they do not always break up into them, however.
Active ingredients. The pleasant aroma of anise fruits is due to the essential oil, which in a good material contains up to 2-3%.
The main component of this essential oil is trans-anethole. In addition, anise fruit contains a lot of fatty oil, sugar and protein.

Curative action and application. Anise relieves flatulence, strengthens the stomach, and helps with coughs.
Despite this seemingly popularity, we have to admit that anise always remains "on the sidelines."
Among the remedies for bloating from the umbrella family, cumin is more effective, and fennel should be preferred against coughing anise.
Nevertheless, in either case, do not give up anise both in the form of tea and in the form of various herbal preparations (anise drops).
But, perhaps, in the first place is still its use for coughs.

Main constituents.
The aroma of the essential oil (up to 3% in the fruits) is dominated by trans-anethole (max. 90%). Additional aroma components are estragol (iso-anethole, 2%), anise aldehyd (less than 1%), anise alcohol, p-methoxy-acetophenone, pinene, limonene, γ-himachalene (2%). An unusual compound is the phenol ester 4-methoxy-2-(1-propene-yl)-phenol-2-methyl-butyrate, which is characteristic for anise (5%). Older books (e.g., Melchior and Kastner) mention that anise, especially of Italian origin, may contain small amounts of highly toxic hemlock fruits. This warning seems now to be obsolete; youll probably not share Sokrates fate, just after enjoying one anise bisquit. Origin Eastern Mediterranean (Egypt?) or West Asia. Turkey is still an important producer in our days, but still better qualities come from Spain. In Far Eastern cuisines (India, Iran, Indonesia), no distinction is made between anise and fennel. Therefore, the same name is usually given to both of them. On the Philippines, star anise, there a popular spice, is referred to as “anise”, too. In Western cuisine, anise is mostly restricted to bread and cakes; occasionally, bread fruit products are aromatized with anise. In small dosage, it is sometimes contained in spice mixtures for sausages and stews. Its main application are, however, anise-flavoured liquors, of which there are many in different Mediterranean countries: Rakı in Turkey, Ouzo; in Greece and Pernod in France. In many cases, oil of anise is substituted by oil of star anise in these products, at least partially. In the East, anise is less known, fennel and star anise being more easily available and more popular. Anise may substitute fennel in Northern Indian recipes, but it is a less suited substitute for star anise in Chinese foods. Anise appears occasionally in Mexican recipes, but I am not sure whether Mexican cooks would use it when and if their native anise-flavoured herbs (Mexican tarragon and Mexican pepper-leaf) are available. Anyway, anise is an acceptable substitute for both, although tarragon is even better. Several plants examanate an aroma comparable to that of anise. Within the Apiaceae (parsley family), both fennel and cicely copy anises aroma nearly perfectly; to a lesser extent, chervil and dill also resemble anise, although their anise fragrance is not that pure as in the former mentioned plants.

Eng.: Anise burnet saxifrage, aniseed.  Bot. syn.: Anisum vulgare L.