Anise

Anise, known botanically as *Pimpinella anisum* and also called aniseed or, less commonly, anix, is a flowering plant belonging to the Apiaceae family. Its native range covers the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. The plant is grown extensively and is a popular flavoring for food, sweets, and alcoholic beverages, particularly in Mediterranean areas.

The name "anise" traces back through Old French to the Latin words *anīsum* or *anēthum*, which themselves come from the Greek *ánēthon*, a term for dill. An older English word for the plant was "anet," also derived from *ănēthum*.

As a herbaceous annual, anise typically reaches heights of 60 to 90 centimeters (2–3 feet) or more. Its lower leaves are simple, measuring 1–5 cm (3⁄8–2 inches) long with shallow lobes, while the upper leaves are feathery or lacy, pinnate, and divided into many small leaflets. Both leaves and flowers grow in large, loose clusters. The flowers, which are white or yellow and about 3 millimeters (1⁄8 in) across, form dense umbels. The fruit is a dry, oblong, curved schizocarp, 4–6 mm (1⁄6–1⁄4 in) long, commonly referred to as "aniseed."

In nature, anise serves as a food source for the larvae of certain Lepidoptera species, including the lime-speck pug and wormwood pug.

Cultivation of anise began in the Middle East, and it was later introduced to Europe for its medicinal uses. It has been grown in Egypt for roughly 4,000 years. The plant thrives in light, fertile, well-drained soil. Seeds should be sown as soon as the ground warms in spring. Because anise develops a taproot, it does not transplant well once established; it is best started in its final location or moved while the seedlings are still small.

Western cooking has long relied on anise to flavor dishes, drinks, and candies. The term refers both to the herb itself and its licorice-like taste. The key flavor compound in anise essential oil, anethole, is also present in star anise (*Illicium verum*), an unrelated spice native to South China that is widely used in South Asian, Southeast Asian, and East Asian cuisine. Star anise is much cheaper to produce and has largely replaced *P. anisum* in Western markets. By 1999, global production of anise essential oil was 8 tons, compared to 400 tons of star anise.

The composition of anise varies by origin and cultivation method. Typical values include: moisture 9–13%, protein 18%, fatty oil 8–23%, essential oil 2–7%, starch 5%, nitrogen-free extract 22–28%, and crude fiber 12–25%. Anise seed products should contain more than 0.2 milliliters of volatile oil per 100 grams.

Culinarily, anise is sweet and aromatic. The seeds, whole or ground, are used in teas and tisanes, often combined with other herbs, and in many regional confections. Examples include black jelly beans (often sold as licorice-flavored), British aniseed balls, aniseed twists and "troach" drops, Australian humbugs, New Zealand aniseed wheels, Italian pizzelle and biscotti, German Pfeffernüsse and Springerle, Austrian Anisbögen, Dutch muisjes, New Mexican bizcochitos, and Peruvian picarones. Anise also appears in savory dishes, such as Mexican atole de anís and champurrado (similar to hot chocolate). In India and Pakistan, it is taken as a digestive after meals. It is used in brines in Italy's Apulia region and as a flavoring in Italian sausage, pepperoni, and other processed meats. Fresh chopped leaves can be added to cheese spreads, dips, or salads, while roots and stems lend a mild licorice taste to soups and stews.

In alcoholic drinks, anise flavors Greek ouzo and Bulgarian mastika; Italian sambuca; French absinthe, anisette, and pastis; Portuguese anis (which often contains a crystallized aniseed stem in each bottle); Spanish anis de chinchón, anís, anísado, and Herbs de Majorca; Turkish rakı; Lebanese, Egyptian, Syrian, Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli arak; and Algerian Anisette Cristal. Outside the Mediterranean, it is found in Colombian aguardiente and Mexican Xtabentún. These liqueurs are clear but turn cloudy when water is added, a phenomenon called the ouzo effect or louche. Anise is also used with other herbs and spices in some root beers, such as Virgil's in the United States.

In traditional European herbal medicine, anise was mainly valued for its carminative effect (reducing flatulence). John Gerard's *Great Herball* noted that the seed "wasteth and consumeth winde, and is good against belchings and upbraidings of the stomach, alaieth gripings of the belly, provoketh urine gently, maketh abundance of milke, and stirreth up bodily lust: it staieth the laske (diarrhea), and also the white flux (leukorrhea) in women." Pliny the Elder reported its use as a cure for sleeplessness, chewed with alexanders and honey to freshen the breath, and mixed with wine as a remedy for asp bites. In 19th-century medicine, anise was prepared as *aqua anisi* ("Water of Anise") in doses of an ounce or more and as *spiritus anisi* ("Spirit of Anise") in doses of 5–20 minims. In Turkish folk medicine, the seeds have been used as an appetite stimulant, tranquilizer, or diuretic.

Anise essential oil is obtained from the fruits through steam distillation or extraction with supercritical carbon dioxide. The oil yield depends on growing conditions.