Real star anise
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Fruits of real star anise ( Illicium verum ) as a spice |
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The real star anise ( Illicium verum ) belongs to the star anise family (Schisandraceae). It is an evergreen tree that grows in tropical areas and its ripe fruits ( Anisi stellati fructus ) are used as a spice and medicinal plant.
description
The real star anise grows as an evergreen tree that can reach heights of up to 20 m. The alternate and short-stalked, leathery leaves are close to the tips of the branches. They are obovate to lanceolate or lanceolate, 5 to 15 cm long and 1.5 to 5 cm wide. The tip of the leaf is rounded to pointed or pointed to a short point, the base of the leaf is wedge-shaped to pointed, the edge of the leaf is whole. The leaves are usually bare and contain oil cells. The stipules are missing.
The white-pink to reddish or yellow-greenish and hermaphroditic, stalked, fragrant flowers are usually single in the leaf axils. The simple bloom consists of seven to twelve bracts . There are 11 to 20 free, short stamens present, usually seven to nine free, permanent upper carpels with short pencil stand in a whorl and are not fused together. The reddish-brown, star-shaped follicle fruit has a diameter of about 3–4 cm and usually consists of seven to nine woody, single-seeded follicle fruits . The 8–9 mm large, flattened seeds are brownish, smooth and shiny.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 28.
Occurrence
The real star anise occurs from southern and western Guangxi to northern Vietnam .
use
kitchen
Together with fennel , cassia cinnamon , cloves and Szechuan pepper , real star anise is used in Chinese cuisine as a five-spice powder . It can also be part of the Indian curry . Asian meat dishes such as Peking duck are flavored with star anise. Star anise is also used as one of the many spices for a spicy broth called Lu-shui , which is used in many ways in Chinese cuisine.
Since the shell is more aromatic than the kernels, the star anise and shell are used or ground. When stored in closed containers, the shelf life is about three years.
Real star anise tastes consistently sweet and licorice-like, but also a little peppery and sour. Plants with a very similar aroma are anise , fennel and sweet umbel ( Myrrhis odorata ), which is rarely used these days .
Medical use
The dried aggregate fruits, which contain 70 ml / kg of essential oil , serve as medicinal drugs . The aroma of the star anise is determined by trans - anethole , which makes up at least 86% of the essential oil.
The active ingredients of the essential oil are anethole (80–90%), methylchavicol (up to 6%), foeniculin , anisaldehyde , monoterpenes such as limonene , pinene and linalool as well as flavonoids and small amounts of veranisatins .
Like aniseed (Pimpinella anisum), star anise has expectorant, expectorant and slightly antispasmodic properties and is used like this, albeit much less often, for catarrh of the respiratory tract and for digestive complaints with bloating, flatulence and slight cramps in tea mixtures. Medically used anise oil , which is contained in many cough suppressants, is obtained from both real star anise and anise.
Others
The closely related Japanese star anise , Illicium anisatum , which is similar in smell and appearance , is traditionally burned as incense in Japan , but it is not suitable as a spice because it is poisonous and can permanently damage the liver, kidneys and bladder. In some cases, unwanted mixing of real products with Japanese star anise resulted in poisoning.
literature
- TK Lim: Edible Medicinal and Non-Medicinal Plants. Volume 6: Fruits , Springer, 2013, ISBN 978-94-007-5627-4 , pp. 151-160.
- Ingrid and Peter Schönfelder : The new book of medicinal plants . Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-440-12932-6 .
- Victor R. Preedy: Essential Oils. Academic Press, 2016, ISBN 978-0-12-416641-7 , pp. 751-756.
- PN Ravindran: The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Spices. Vol. 1, CABI, 2016, ISBN 978-1-78639-114-8 , pp. 911-915.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Shiu-ying Hu: Food Plants of China. The Chinese University Press, Hong Kong, 2005, ISBN 962-201-860-2 .
- ^ Illicium verum at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
- ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Illicium verum. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Accessed May 31, 2018.
- ↑ Bettina Rahfeld: Microscopic Color Atlas of Plant Drugs , Spectrum Academic Publishing House, 2009. ISBN 978-3-8274-1951-4 .
Web links
- Illicium verum at PROTA.
- Star anise at Gernot Katzer's spice pages.
- Illicium verum at Useful Tropical Plants.