FENNEL, SWEET (Foeniculum vulgare Mill van dulce (d.c.) alef.)

Description

Biennial or perennial herb native to and widespread around the Mediterranean. The cultivated variety is annual or biennial, yielding fruits improperly called seeds. The common edible vegetable consists of the fleshy stalk carrying sheath-shaped leaves and a large, cylindrical root. Its flowers are yellow umbellae, blooming in the summer. The parts used are the fleshy stalk (vegetable), seeds, and roots. The oil has a very sweet, slightly earthy or peppery, spicy odor. The flavor is warm, spicy, aromatic, sweet, and slightly burning.
The essential oil is obtained by steam distillation of the seeds. It is a yellowish-green liquid with a characteristic anise odor. The main constituents of the oil include anethole (50 to 60%), d- phellandrene, and d-limonene.
The derivatives from the seeds are tincture (20% in 70% ethanol), fluid extract, and essential oil. The derivatives from the roots aretincture (20% in 70% ethanol), usually prepared from the fluid extract.