Anise Health Article

Description

Anise, Pimpinella anisum, is a slow-growing annual herb of the parsley family (Apiaceae, formerly Umbelliferae). It is related to other plants prized for their aromatic fruits, commonly called seeds, such as dill, cumin, caraway, and fennel. It is cultivated chiefly for its licorice-flavored fruits, called aniseed. Although it has a licorice flavor, anise is not related to the European plant whose roots are the source of true licorice. It has been used as a medicinal and fragrant plant since ancient times.

The plant reaches from 1–3 ft (0.3–1 m) in height when cultivated, and has finely divided feather-like bright green leaflets. The name Pimpinella (from the Latin dipinella) refers to the pinnately divided form of the leaves. The plant bears white to yellowish-white flowers in compound umbels (umbrella-like clusters). When ripe, the fruits are 0.125 in (3 mm) long and oval-shaped with grayish-green coloring.

While the entire plant is fragrant and tastes strongly of anise, it is the aniseed fruit that has been highly valued since antiquity. Seed maturation usually occurs one month after pollination, when the oil content in the dried fruit is about 2.5%. Steam distillation of the crushed aniseed yields from 2.5 to 3.5% of a fragrant, syrupy, essential, or volatile, oil, of which anethole, present at about 90%, is the principal aromatic constituent. Other chemical constituents of the fruit are creosol, alpha-pinene, dianethole, and photoanethole.

In addition to its medicinal properties, anise is widely used for flavoring curries, breads, soups, cakes, candies, desserts, nonalcoholic beverages, and liqueurs such as anisette. The essential oil is valuable in perfumes and soaps and has been used in toothpastes, mouthwashes, and skin creams.

Anise is endemic to the Middle East and Mediterranean regions, including Egypt, Greece, Crete, and Turkey. It was cultivated and used by ancient Egyptians, and used in ancient Greece and Rome, when it was cultivated in Tuscany. Its use and cultivation spread to central Europe in the Middle Ages, and today it is cultivated on a commercial scale in warm areas such as southern Europe, Asia, India, North Africa, Mexico, and Central and South America.

General use

The medicinal properties of anise come from the chemicals that are present in the fruits. The anethole in anise helps to relieve gas and settle an upset stomach. The use of anise to season foods, especially meat and vegetable dishes, in many parts of the world may have originated as a digestive aid. The Romans ate aniseed cake at the end of rich meals to prevent indigestion. The chemicals creosol and alpha-pinene act as expectorants, loosening mucus and making it easier to cough up. The estrogenic action of anise is from the chemicals dianethole and photoanethole, which act in a way similar to estrogen. The anise fruits and the essential oil of anise contain these chemicals and can be used medicinally. Aniseed can also be used to make an herbal tea which can help relieve physical complaints.

As a medicinal plant, anise has been used as an antibacterial, an antimicrobial, an antiseptic, an antispasmodic, a breath freshener, a carminative, a diaphoretic, a digestive aid, a diuretic, an expectorant, a mild estrogenic, a mild muscle relaxant, a parasiticide, a stimulant, and a stomachic.

Anise may be helpful in the following conditions:

• Anemia. Anise promotes digestion, which may help improve anemia due to inefficient absorption of iron.
• Asthma. Essential oil of anise may be inhaled through the nose to help ease breathing and relieve nasal congestion.
• Bad breath. It can be used in mouthwash or tea to sweeten breath.
• Bronchitis. Aniseed may be used as an expectorant and essential oil of anise may be inhaled through the nose to help ease breathing.
• Catarrh. Drinking aniseed tea soothes mucous membranes.
• Cold. Aniseed can be used as an expectorant and drinking aniseed tea soothes the throat.
• Colic. Drinking anise tea or using essential oil can alleviate gas.
• Cough. Can be used as an expectorant, especially for hard, dry coughs where expectoration is difficult.
• Croup. Aniseed can be used to alleviate a persistent cough in a child.
• Emphysema. Essential oil of anise may be inhaled through the nose to help ease breathing and relieve nasal congestion and tea with aniseed will soothe mucous membranes.
• Gas and gas pains. Drinking aniseed tea helps relieve gas, gas pains, and flatulence.
• Menopause. Aniseed tea can help alleviate menopausal symptoms.
• Morning sickness. Tea made from anise can help alleviate morning sickness during pregnancy.
• Nursing. Aniseed tea can help a nursing mother's milk come in.
• Sore throat. Drinking aniseed tea alleviates pain of sore throat.