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(Pimpinella anisum, also anís (stressed on the second syllable) and aniseed) is a flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
 in the family Apiaceae
Apiaceae

The Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of usually aromatic plants with hollow stems, commonly known as umbellifers. It includes cumin, parsley, carrot, coriander/cilantro, dill, caraway, fennel, parsnip, celery, Queen anne's lace and other relatives....
 native to the eastern Mediterranean region and southwest Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
 known for its flavor that resembles licorice, fennel
Fennel

Fennel is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum . It is a member of the family Apiaceae . It is a hardy, perennial plant, umbelliferous herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaf....
, and tarragon
Tarragon

Tarragon or dragon's-wort is a perennial plant herb in the family Asteraceae related to Artemisia . Corresponding to its species name, a common term for the plant is "dragon herb." It is native to a wide area of the Northern Hemisphere from easternmost Europe across central and eastern Asia to India, western North America, and south to...
.

e is an herbaceous
Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaf and stem that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. A herbaceous plant may be Annual plant, Biennial plant or Perennial plant....
 annual plant
Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates flowers and dies in one year. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed....
 growing to 3 ft (1 m) tall.






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Encyclopedia


(Pimpinella anisum, also anís (stressed on the second syllable) and aniseed) is a flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
 in the family Apiaceae
Apiaceae

The Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of usually aromatic plants with hollow stems, commonly known as umbellifers. It includes cumin, parsley, carrot, coriander/cilantro, dill, caraway, fennel, parsnip, celery, Queen anne's lace and other relatives....
 native to the eastern Mediterranean region and southwest Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
 known for its flavor that resembles licorice, fennel
Fennel

Fennel is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum . It is a member of the family Apiaceae . It is a hardy, perennial plant, umbelliferous herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaf....
, and tarragon
Tarragon

Tarragon or dragon's-wort is a perennial plant herb in the family Asteraceae related to Artemisia . Corresponding to its species name, a common term for the plant is "dragon herb." It is native to a wide area of the Northern Hemisphere from easternmost Europe across central and eastern Asia to India, western North America, and south to...
.

Biology

Anise is an herbaceous
Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaf and stem that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. A herbaceous plant may be Annual plant, Biennial plant or Perennial plant....
 annual plant
Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates flowers and dies in one year. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed....
 growing to 3 ft (1 m) tall. The leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 at the base of the plant are simple, 0.5 in - 2 in (2 - 5 cm) long and shallowly lobed, while leaves higher on the stems are feathery pinnate, divided into numerous leafs. The flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are white, approximately 3 mm diameter, produced in dense umbel
Umbel

An umbel is an inflorescence which consists of a number of short flower stalks which are equal in length and spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs....
s. The fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
 is an oblong dry schizocarp
Schizocarp

A schizocarp is a dry fruit that develops from multiple carpels. When mature it splits up into one-seeded mericarps. The mericarp is either:...
, 3 - 5 mm long. It is these seedpods that are referred to as "aniseed".

Anise is used as food by the larva
Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
e of some Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is an order of insect that includes moths and butterfly. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterfly, skipper , and Hedylidae....
 species (butterflies and moth
Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the Order Lepidoptera. The differences between butterflies and moths are more than just taxonomy....
s), including the lime-speck pug
Lime-speck Pug

The Lime-speck Pug is a moth of the family Geometer moth. It is a common species throughout the Palearctic region, the Near East and North Africa....
 and wormwood pug
Wormwood Pug

The Wormwood Pug is a moth of the family Geometer moth. It is a common species across the Palearctic region and the Near East.The wingspan is 21-23 mm and the forewings are warm brown with two black spots along the Glossary of Lepidopteran terms with a black discal spot completing a distinctive triangle....
.

Cultivation


Best growth is in light, fertile, well drained soil. Start plants from seeds as soon as the ground warms up in spring. Because plants have a taproot
Taproot

A plant's taproot is a somewhat straight tapering root that grows vertically downward. It forms a center from which other roots sprout laterally....
 they do not transplant well after established, so start them where they are to grow, or transplant while seedlings are still small.

Production

Syrian Arab Republic
Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
 is leader in production of anise, badian, fennel & corian followed by India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
.

Uses


Culinary


Anise is sweet and very aromatic, distinguished by its licorice-like flavor. It is used in a wide variety of regional and ethnic confectioneries, including British Aniseed ball
Aniseed ball

Aniseed balls are a type of hard round confectionery sold in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. They are shiny and dark brownish red, and hard like Gobstoppers, but generally only 1cm across....
s, Australian Humbugs, New Zealand Aniseed wheels, Italian pizzelle
Pizzelle

Pizzelle are traditional Italy waffle cookies made from flour, egg , sugar, butter or vegetable oil, and flavoring . Pizzelle can be hard and crisp or soft and chewy depending on the ingredients and method of preparation....
, German pfeffernusse and springerle
Springerle

Springerle is a type of cookie from Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany with an embossed design made by pressing a molding onto rolled dough and allowing the impression to dry before cooking....
, Netherland Muisjes
Muisjes

Muisjes are a typical Netherlands sandwich filling.It has been a tradition to eat Dutch biscuits called beschuit with muisjes – that are really no more than aniseed sprinkles with a sugared and coloured outer layer – when a baby is born....
, Norwegian knotts, and Peruvian Picarones
Picarones

Picarones is a dessert popular in Peru that originated in the Viceroyalty of Peru. Its principal ingredients are squash and sweet potato. It is served in a doughnut form and covered with syrup, made from chancaca ....
. It is a key ingredient in Mexican "atole
Atole

Atole is a traditional cornstarch-based Mexico and Central American hot drink. Chocolate atole is known as Champurrado . It is typically accompanied with tamales, and very popular during the Christmas holiday season ....
 de anís" or champurrado
Champurrado (beverage)

Champurrado is a chocolate-based atole, a warm and thick Mexico drink, based on masa harina , piloncillo, water or milk and occasionally containing cinnamon, anise seed and or vanilla bean ....
, which is similar to hot chocolate, and taken as a digestive after meals in India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
.

Liquor

Anise is used to flavor the French spirits Absinthe
Absinthe

Absinthe is historically described as a distillation, highly alcoholic beverage. It is an anise-flavored Distilled beverage derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Absinth Wormwood, commonly referred to as "grande wormwood"....
, Anisette
Anisette

Anisette is an anise-flavored liqueur mainly consumed in France, Italy, Portugal, Mexico, and Spain. It is sweeter than most anise-flavored liqueurs , and also has a lower alcohol content ....
, and Pastis
Pastis

Pastis is an anise-flavored liqueur and ap?ritif from France, typically containing 40?45% alcohol by volume, although Ethanol-free varieties exist....
, the Greek Ouzo
Ouzo

Ouzo is an anise-flavored distilled beverage that is widely consumed in Greece. It is similar to pastis , Sambuca , Mastika , Raki , Salmiakki Koskenkorva or Arak ....
, the Italian Sambuca
Sambuca

Sambuca is an Italy Star Anise, usually colourless liqueur. Its most common variety is often referred to as white Sambuca in order to differentiate it from other varieties that are deep blue in colour or bright red ....
, the Arabic Arak
Arak

Arak may refer to:* Arak, Iran, the county capital of Arak County, Iran* Arak , an alcoholic beverage* Arak gorges, series of gorges in Algeria...
, the German Jägermeister
Jägermeister

J?germeister is a German 70-proof digestif made with herbs and spices. It is the flagship product of Mast-J?germeister AG, headquartered in Wolfenb?ttel, south of Braunschweig, Germany....
, the Turkish Raki
Raki (alcoholic beverage)

Raki is a non-sweet usually anise-flavored ap?ritif that is produced by twice Distillation either only suma or suma that has been mixed with Ethanol in traditional copper alembics of 5000 litres volume or less with aniseed....
 and the Colombian national drink Aguardiente
Aguardiente

Aguardiente , aguardente or augardente is the generic name for alcoholic drinks between 29 and 60 percent alcohol, meaning "Alcoholic proof#Origins", or, literally "burning water" ....
. It's believed to be one of the secret ingredients in the French liqueur Chartreuse
Chartreuse

Chartreuse may refer to:* Chartreuse , a family of colors between yellow and green* Chartreuse , a brand of liqueur produced in Voiron, France, near the Grande Chartreuse monastery...
. It is also used in some root beer
Root beer

Root beer is a carbonated beverage originally brewed using sassafras. Root beer, popularized in North America, comes in two forms: fermentation and soft drink....
 such as Virgil's
Virgil's Root Beer

Developed by Jill Fraser Crowley and Edward Crowley, Virgil's Root Beer is a microbrewed gourmet root beer. The company was sold in the early 2000s and Virgil's is now made in Los Angeles, California by Reed's, Inc....
 in the United States.

Medicinal


  • Anise, like fennel
    Fennel

    Fennel is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum . It is a member of the family Apiaceae . It is a hardy, perennial plant, umbelliferous herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaf....
    , contains anethole
    Anethole

    Anethole is an aromatic compound that occurs widely in nature, in essential oils. It contributes a large component of the distinctive flavors of anise and fennel , Syzygium anisatum , licorice , and star anise ....
    , a phytoestrogen.
  • Anise is a mild antiparasitic and its leaves can be used to treat digestive problems, relieve toothache, and its essential oil
    Essential oil

    An essential oil is a concentrated, hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. They are also known as volatile or ethereal oils, or simply as the "oil of" the plant material from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove....
     to treat lice and scabies
    Scabies

    Scabies is a contagious Parasitism skin infection characterized by superficial burrows, intense pruritus and secondary infection. It is etiology by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei....
    .
  • Anise can be used to relieve menstrual cramps.


Miscellaneous


  • In aromatherapy
    Aromatherapy

    Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine that uses volatile liquid plant materials, known as essential oils , and other aromatic compounds from plants for the purpose of affecting a person's mood or health....
    , aniseed essential oil is used to treat colds and flu.
  • According to Pliny the Elder
    Pliny the Elder

    Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
    , anise was used as a cure for sleeplessness, chewed with alexanders
    Alexanders

    Alexanders is a commonly cultivated flowering plant, Smyrnium olusatrum, belonging to the family Apiaceae. It is also known as Alisanders, Horse Parsley and Smyrnium....
     and a little honey in the morning to freshen the breath, and when mixed with wine as a remedy for scorpion stings (N.H. 20.72).
  • In Indian cuisine, no distinction is made between anise and fennel. Therefore, the same name (saunf) is usually given to both of them. Some use the term patli (thin) saunf or velayati (foreign) saunf to distinguish anise from fennel.
  • In Pakistan
    Pakistan

    Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
     boiling water is poured over about a tablespoon of aniseed in a teacup to make a hot tea
    Tea

    Tea refers to the agricultural products of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods....
    .
  • Builders of steam locomotive
    Steam locomotive

    A steam locomotive is a locomotive powered by steam. The term usually refers to its use on railways, but can also refer to a "road locomotive" such as a traction engine or steamroller....
    s in Britain incorporated capsules of aniseed oil into white metal
    White metal

    The white metals are any of several light-colored alloys used as a base for plated silverware, ornaments or novelties, as well as any of several lead-base or tin-base alloys used for things like Bearing s, jewellery, miniature figures, fusible plugs, some medals and metal typesetting....
     bearings
    Bushing

    A bushing is a cylindrical lining designed to reduce friction and wear inside a hole, or constrict and restrain motion of mechanical parts....
    , so that the distinctive smell would give warning in case of overheating.
  • Aniseed is the flavour of the sweetened gum Black Jack
    Black Jack (gum)

    Black Jack is an aniseed flavored chewing gum made by Cadbury Adams.In 1869, exiled former Mexican president and general Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was living in New Jersey....
     and Nigeria's "Tom Tom" candy.
  • Anise can be made into a liquid scent and is used for both hunting
    Hunting

    Hunting is the practice of pursuing living animals for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to law....
     and fishing
    Fishing

    Fishing is the activity of catching fish. Fishing techniques include Fish net, Fish trap, Spearfishing, angling and Gathering seafood by hand. The term fishing may be applied to catching other aquatic animals such as different types of shellfish, squid, octopus, turtles, Edible frog and some edible marine invertebrates....
    . It is put on fishing lure
    Fishing lure

    In terms of recreational fishing, a lure is an object attached to the end of the fishing line and designed to resemble and move like an item of fish prey....
    s to attract fish
    Fish

    A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
    .
  • Anethole
    Anethole

    Anethole is an aromatic compound that occurs widely in nature, in essential oils. It contributes a large component of the distinctive flavors of anise and fennel , Syzygium anisatum , licorice , and star anise ....
    , the principal component of anise oil, is a precursor that can eventually produce 2,5-dimethoxybenzaldehyde
    2,5-Dimethoxybenzaldehyde

    2,5-Dimethoxybenzaldehyde is an organic compound and a benzaldehyde derivative. One of its uses is the Chemical synthesis of 2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine also known as 2C-H....
     which is used in the clandestine synthesis of psychedelic drugs such as 2C-B
    2C-B

    2C-B or 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine is a Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants of the 2C's, an Empathogen-entactogen. It was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin in 1974....
    , 2C-I
    2C-I

    2C-I is a Psychedelics, Dissociatives and Deliriants and phenethylamine of the 2C . It was developed and popularized by Alexander Shulgin. It was described in Shulgin?s book PiHKAL....
     and DOB
    2,5-Dimethoxy-4-bromoamphetamine

    DOB, also known as Brolamfetamine and Bromo-DMA, is a psychedelic Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants and a substituted amphetamine of the phenethylamine class of compounds, which can be used as an entheogen....
    .


International naming

  • ??????; ????? (Gjumbir; Isiot) in Macedonian
  • Anis or Erva-doce in Portuguese
    Portuguese language

    Portuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and Portugal. It is derived from the Latin language spoken by the Romanization Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago....
  • Yansoonin Arabic


External links