Anise seed

What is it? Aniseed is widely used to flavor pastries; it is the characteristic ingredient of German bread called Anisbrod. Aniseed has bright green leaves with a mild licorice flavor which is commonly used in meat and vegetable dishes. It makes a soothing herbal tea and has been used medicinally from prehistoric times. The essential oil content is about 2.5 percent, and its principal component is anethole. The essential oil is used to flavor absinthe, anisette, and Pernod liqueurs.

Aniseed has an aromatic, agreeable smell and a warm, sweetish taste. Both smell and taste are due to its oil, called oil of anise, which contains anethole. Anethole and its derivatives are used in perfumes and flavorings.

Appearance: The plant, up to 0.75 m (2.5 feet) tall, has long-stalked basal leaves and shorter, stalked stem leaves. Its small, yellowish white flowers form loose umbels. The fruit, or seed, is nearly ovoid in shape; about 3.5 mm (0.12 inch) long, and has five longitudinal dorsal ridges.

Nutrition Fact: Aniseed is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc and Copper, and a very good source of Iron and Manganese.

History: Anise has been cultivated in Egypt for at least 4,000 years. A reference was found in an Egyptian papyrus dating around 2000 BCE. Dioscorides listed it as a medicinal plant and wrote, in the 1st century CE, that anise "warms, dries, and dissolves". The Romans used it as a form of currency; and Hippocrates used it to treat coughs, as did the healers before him.

Native: Egypt, Eastern Mediterranean region, Asia

Cultivation: Anise cultivated chiefly for its fruits, called aniseed, the flavor of which resembles that of licorice. It is cultivated in southern Europe, southern Russia, the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan, Syria, Malta, Spain, and Germany China, Chile, Mexico, and the United States.

Origin: Aniseed originated from the Middle East.