Chinese anise

Badflfissigkeit, /. bath liquid, bath solution. Badian, m. Chinese anise, star anise, badian Illicium verum). -ol, n. star anise oil. badisch, a. of Baden. — badische Saure, badische acid, 2-naphthylamine-8-sulfonic acid. 

Star Anise. Chinese anise. Fruit of I It ictum verurn Hook, f., Magnoliaceae. Habit Southeastern Asia and subtropical countries commercial supply chiefly from China. 

Table 23. Comparison of Ingredients of Vietnamese and Chinese Crude Anise Oils ...

Source Hydroquinone occurs naturally in strawberry tree leaves, pears, blackberries, Chinese alpenrose, bilberries, blackberries, hyacinth flowers, anise, cowberries, and lingonberries (Duke, 1992). 

In India, it is an essential ingredient in the Bengali spice mixture panch phoron and in Chinese five-spice powders. In the west, fennel seed is a very common ingredient in Italian sausages and northern European rye breads. Many egg, fish and other dishes employ fresh or dried fennel leaves. Florence fennel is a key ingredient in some Italian and German salads, often tossed with chicory and avocado, or it can be braised and served as a warm side dish. One may also blanch and/or marinate the leaves, or cook them in risotto. In all cases, the leaves lend their characteristically mild, anise-like flavour. 

The seeds contain some volatile oil, resin and a large amount of fixed oil (Meisner, 1818). The fruit (without the seeds) contains volatile oil, resin, fat, tannin, pectin and mucilage. The volatile oil (oil of star-anise) amounts to about 4-5% and is almost identical with oil of anise (from P. anisum, LinnS). Star-anise oil from Chinese fruit has a specific gravity at 15°C (59°F) of 0.980-0.990 and its known constituents are anethol, phel-landrene, safrol and hydro-quinone-ethyl-ether (Fliickiger, 1879). Poisonous sikimin has been detected in the fruit (Eykmann, 1881), while Schlegel (1885) found a crystalline principle of a pronounced odour of musk. He also found saponin in the watery extract. 

Chinese star anise is an evergreen bush of the magnolia order grown in Vietnam and southern China. The ripe, strongly anisesmelling fruits open up in a star. They are used as a spice and for the production of star... 

The main component (80-90%) is (f )-anethole. Star anise oil and (F)-anelhole isolated from it are used in anise liqueur (Anisette, Sambuca) and anise brandy (Pernod, Ouzo, Raki, Arak), liquorice sweets, toothpaste, etc. It has almost completely replaced the original anise seed oil, obtained from the umbellifer P. anisum. Shikimic acid (Wang et al., 2001), used in the production of the antiviral drug Tamiflu (Roche), is extracted from the fruits of Chinese star anise and related species (Rahway, 1989). 

Chinese star anise (I. verum Hook, F.) is a well-known spice used in the treatment of infant colic. Japanese star anise [I. anisa-tum L.), however, has been documented to have both neurologic and gastrointestinal toxicities. 

A methodological approach for an effective and reliable quality control of Chinese star anise [I. verum Hook. F.) was developed and validated by Lederer et al. (2006). A combined method of TLC and HPLC-MS/MS was used for differentiation ofvarious Ulicium species, especially Chinese and Japanese star anise. Species can be distinguished by their TLC flavonoid pattern. A sensitive and selective HPLC/ESI-MS/MS method was developed for the detection and quantification of lower admixtures of I. anisatum and of further toxic Ulicium species at a low concentration range using the sesquiterpene, lactone anisatin, as a marker. This assay includes a solid-phase extraction clean-up procedure with a high recovery (> 90%). 

Lederer, I., Schulzki, G., Gross, J. and Steffen, J.P. (2006) Combination of TLC and HPLC-MS/MS methods. Approach to a rational quality control of Chinese star anise. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 54, 1970-1974. 

Illicium anisatum contains sesquiterpenoids, such as anisatin, anisotin, neoanisatin, and pseudoanisatin. Illicium religiosum (Japanese star anise) contains shikimic acid, anisatin and neoanisatin. Illicium verum (Chinese star anise) contains the monoterpenoid transanethole. Chinese star anise has been used to treat infant colic, but can be confused with Japanese star anise, which contains the neurotoxin anisatin. 

Two infants whose parents gave them star anise herbal tea developed tremors or spasms, hypertonia, hyperexcitability with crying, nystagmus, and vomiting (3). The Chinese star anise tea had been contaminated with Japanese star anise. 

Star Anise Oil You can look at Table IV to see that Chinese Star Anise has a smidgen anisaldehyde. More recently it was shown that the oil specifically from the Yunnan region of China had a whopping 4.48% content [18]. 

Star Anise Oil Table IV in the Anethole Section shows the methylchavicol content from two of the biggest oil producing nations. It is disturbing to note that a study on the Vietnam and Chinese oils a year earlier showedalmostexactly opposite numbers [56, vol. Ill, p. 103].BythisI mean that Vietnam was shown to have approximately 6% and China to have none. I m confused. Most likely one or both have the goods. 

Composition According to ISO [19], the oil contains 86-95% E-anethole, up to 1.0% Z-anethole and up to 6.0% methyl chavicol. Eoeniculin can occur up to 3.0%, anisic aldehyde is limited to 0.5%. Further constituents are monoterpenes like a-pinene, a-phellandrene, limonene, linalool and a-terpineol. Besides P-caryophyllene, two further sesquiterpenes are typical trace components for Chinese star anise oil, namely E-and Z-a-bergamotene. 

Oil of star anise, Chinese type (Illicium verum Hook, f.)... 

Illicium religiosum, I. anisatum. Highly toxic Japanese variant of the safe plant, Chinese star anise (/. verum). All parts of the plant, particularly the seeds, are poisonous, causing vomiting and epileptiform convulsions of the type caused by picrotoxin, with dilated pupil and cyanosis. Kills by effects on respiratory and cardiovascular centres in medulla. Regarded as a sacred plant and found growing around Buddhist temples and graveyards. 

The structural and configurational studies of quinic acid (1) by Fischer and Gerda Dangschat were extended during the Basle period to shikimic acid (2), the trihydroxycyclohexenecarboxyhc acid first isolated from the Chinese star anise by Eykman in 1885. This acid was first proved to be a... 

Oil of Anise. Volatile oi] from dried ripe fruit of Pimpinetla anisum L-. Umbelliferae, or of HUcium serum Hook, fil., Magnoliaceae (Chinese star anise). Constit. 80-90% anethole methylchavico], anisaldehyde. 

Note Japanese star anise is lUtcium onisatum L. (il reli-giosum Sieb. Zucc. I. japotitcttm Sieb.) and contains a toxic lactone called anisatin. Chinese star anise does not contain rfiis toxic principle. Shikimic acid has been found in both-... 

The fruits of the Illicium species are distinctive star-shaped follicles which emit a characteristic refreshing flavor. The fruits of I. vernum Hook, in particular, are the source of the only economically important product derived from the genus Chinese star anise, which is widely used as a spice for flavoring food and beverages. Hence, essential oils have been the primary subject of chemical research on Illicium species and the presence of volatile phenols have been reported as constituents of various parts of all Illicium studied so far. On the other hand, the fruits of /. anisatum, Japanese star anise, have been known to be very toxic for several centuries. Many researchers had been involved in the attempt to isolate the toxic substance since the middle of the 19th century. In 1952, Lane et al. succeeded in the isolation of the 0 pure toxic principle named anisatin (1) [4]... 

Howes, M.J., G.C. Kite, and M.S. Simmonds. 2009. Distinguishing Chinese star anise from Japanese star anise using thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.. Agric. Food Chem. 57(13) 5783-5789. 

No mutagenic activity of an anise ethanol extract was observed at concentrations up to 0.1 mg/ml in chromosomal aberration tests using a Chinese hamster fibroblast cell line (Ishidate et al. 1984). 

C10H20O2, Mr 172.27. A monocyclic monoterpene dialcohol with the p-menthane structure occurring in nature in both the trans- and the c/s-forms, "trans-T. , mp. 158-159°C, c -T. ,mp. 104-105°C.The a5-T. exists mostly as the hydrate ( c -terpin hydrate , mp. 118 -119 °C) which is used as an expectorant. The occurrence of T. is probably the result of secondary formation from y-terpineol menth-4(8)-en-l-ol]. T. occurs in Chinese star anise oil (Illicium venim, Illi-ciaceae). For synthesis, see Ut.. ... 

Chinese Five-Spice Star anise, Szechuan peppercorn, fennel seed, clove, coriander seed, cinnamon... 

---