Aniseed

Aniseed, not to be confused with star anise Illicium verum, is one of the oldest medicinal plants primarily grown for its fruits (aniseeds). This warming, aromatic herb has a delicious, sweet liquorice-like flavour and is a commonly used, and very safe, herbal remedy that is well suited for all age groups from children to the elderly. 

In traditional herbal medicine aniseed is a useful carminative for the symptomatic treatment of mild, spasmodic gastrointestinal complaints including bloating, flatulence, colic, nausea and indigestion, and for catarrh of the respiratory tract where it is used as an expectorant in coughs and colds and also for whooping cough and asthma. Consumption of aniseed in lactating women works as a galactagogue to increase milk supply and also gives relief to their infants from gastrointestinal problems. It is also used traditionally as a diuretic to increase urine flow, as an appetite stimulant and to increase libido. It has beneficial effects on dysmenorrhea and menopausal hot flushes in women. 

Many countries around the Mediterranean region, such as Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain and France, have traditional alcoholic beverages produced with aniseed such as arak, pastis, absinthe, ouzo, sambuca and raki. The common special feature of all these beverages is their unique behaviour during dilution with water. Adding a large amount of water causes the clear liquor to turn instantly into an opaque, translucent milky-white colour, a phenomenon known as the ouzo effect (also louche or spontaneous emulsification). This occurs when a strongly hydrophobic volatile oil, such as trans-anethole, is dissolved in a water miscible solvent, such as ethanol, and the concentration of ethanol is lowered by addition of small amounts of water. This observation illustrates the important role ethanol serves to help pull out the full spectrum of constituents in herbal material. 

References

HEC monograph

Whelan R. Dandelions. R.J.Whelan Ltd c2011 (accessed 11 Oct 2023). Available from https://www.rjwhelan.co.nz/herbs%20A-Z/aniseed.html

Botet R. The "ouzo effect", recent developments and application to therapeutic drug carrying. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 2012;352. 10.1088/1742-6596/352/1/012047.

Özgüven M. Handbook of Herbs and Spices (Second Edition), Volume 2, 2012.