Anise

The seed-like fruits of a Mediterranean herb, also known as anise; aniseed; anise seed; brown anise; white anise. It is related to fennel. See also star anise.

Overview

ANISE is a culinary, and distillery spice, cultivated for its fruit, oil, and leaf. It is yielded from the plant Pimpinella anisum L., a annual in the Apiaceae family, growing in temperate biome, with a native range of SE. Türkiye to C. Israel, Cyprus.¹

It is used primarily in pastries, candies, liquors. Its aroma is described as licorice-like, sweet, with a heat index of 1.²

See more in ( Citation: POWO, 2024 POWO (2024). Plants of the world online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved from http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/ ; Citation: Petruzzello, 2021 Petruzzello, M. (2021). List of herbs and spices. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/list-of-herbs-and-spices-2024392 ; Citation: Wyk, 2014 Wyk, B. (2014). Culinary herbs and spices of the world. University of Chicago Press, joint publication with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ; Citation: Dalby, 2000 Dalby, A. (2000). Dangerous tastes: the story of spices. University of California Press. ; Citation: Hill, 2004 Hill, T. (2004). The contemporary encyclopedia of herbs and spices: Seasonings for the global kitchen. J. Wiley. ; Citation: Anderson, 2023 Anderson, I. (2023). The history and natural history of spices: the 5000-year search for flavour. The History Press. )

Illustration of Pimpinella anisum from Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen ( Citation: 1887 Köhler, H. (1887). Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen in naturgetreuen Abbildungen mit kurz erläuterndem Texte: Atlas zur Pharmacopoea germanica, austriaca, belgica, danica, helvetica, hungarica, rossica, suecica, Neerlandica, British pharmacopoeia, zum Codex medicamentarius, sowie zur Pharmacopoeia of the United States of America. Franz Eugen Köhler. Retrieved from https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/623 ) II 93.

Distribution

Native and introduced habitats of Pimpinella anisum³

Native areas:       Cyprus, Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Turkey

Introduced areas: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, France, Portugal, Spain, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Romania, Yugoslavia, Belarus, South European Russi, Ukraine, Morocco, Tunisia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan, East Aegean Is., Iraq, Oman, Xinjiang, Bangladesh, India, Laos, Massachusetts, Michigan, Guatemala, Leeward Is., Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Brazil South, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest

Bibliography