SC - Anise & Fennel
Ron and Laurene Wells
tinyzoo at aracnet.com
Thu Jul 20 21:18:33 PDT 2000
[ Plant part | Family | Aroma | Constituents | Origin | Discussion |
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Anis (Pimpinella anisum L.)
Synonyms
pharm
Fructus Anisi
Amharic
Insilal
Arabic
Yanisum
Bengali
Sulpha
Chinese
Yan kok, Pa chio, Huei hsiang
Danish
Grøn anis
Dutch
Anijs, Wilde pimpernel, Nieszaad, Groene anijs
English
Sweet cumin, Aniseed
Esperanto
Anizo, Anizujo
Estonian
Harilik aniis
Farsi
Anisun
Finnish
Anis
Finnish
Anisruoho
French
Anis vert, Boucage
Frisian
Anys
German
Anis
Hebrew
Shamir
Hindi
Saunf, Patli saunf, Vilayati saunf
Hungarian
Ánizs
Icelandic
Anís
Indonesian
Jinten manis
Italian
Anice, Anice verde
Marathi
Shauf
Norwegian
Anis
Polish
Biedrzeniec anyz
Portuguese
Anis, Anis verde
Portuguese
Erva doce
Romanian
Anis
Russian
Anis
Sanskrit
Shatpushpa
Spanish
Anís, Matalahuga
Swedish
Anis
Tagalog
Anis
Turkish
Anason
Vietnamese
Cay vi
Used plant part
Fruit.
Plant family
Apiaceae (parsley family).
Sensoric quality
Sweet and very aromatic. See cicely for other spices with a similar
fragrance.
For an overview on sweet spices, see licorice.
Main constituents
The aroma of the essential oil (up to 3% in the fruits) is
dominated by
trans-anethol (max. 90%). Additional aroma components are estragol
(iso-anethol, 2%), anis aldehyd (less than 1%), anis alcohol,
p-methoxy-acetophenone, pinene, limonene, gamma-himachalene (2%).
An
unusual compound is the phenol ester
4-methoxy-2-(1-propene-yl)-phenol-2-methyl-butyrate, which is
characteristic
for anis (5%).
Older books (e.g., Melchior and Kastner) mention that anis,
especially of Italian
origin, may contain small amounts of highly toxic hemlock fruits.
This warning
seems now to be obsolete; you'll probably not share Sokrates' fate
just after
enjoying one anis 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
anis and fennel (see below). Therefore, the same name is usually
given to both
of them. On the Philippines, star anis, there a popular spice, is
referred to as
"anis", too.
Etymology
The spice got its name by confusion with dill (Greek áneeson or
áneeton).
Sanskrit shatpushpa literally means "a hundred flowers" and
probably refers to
the flower cluster (umbel).
The Hindi name saunf properly denotes fennel, which anis is thought
to be a
foreign variety of and which is often used interchangeably with
anis. To
distinguish anis clearly from fennel, the adjectives patli "thin"
or vilyati "foreign"
may be used.
The Portuguese name erva doce "sweet herb" is used for both the
fresh herb
and the dried seeds.
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