Fennel

Foeniculum vulgare Mill.

Fam.Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) Fennel nutritional values ​​- Fennel herbal tea - Fennel in herbal medicine

Fr. Fenouil

lng. Fennel

Sp. Hinojo

Ted. Fenchel

Description

Biennial or perennial herbaceous plant, up to 2 meters high. The stem is erect, cylindrical, branched, striated, slightly glaucous.

The leaves, divided into numerous filiform lacinias, embrace the stem with a large sheath. The root is taproot and bifid in the distal part.

The hermaphrodite flowers are small, yellow and gathered in terminal umbels composed of 10-30 rays. The sepals are absent, the corolla is formed by 5 oblong, whole, crumpled petals. It blooms in summer. The fruit is a glabrous diachene, with mericarpi welded with five ribs, pale green, oblong or slightly arched, very aromatic (6) due to the presence of an essence contained in six secretrical pockets (vitte). All parts of the plant have intense aroma and spicy taste.

Different varieties of fennel are known: the dulce or Roman, cultivated for the fruits from which the essence is obtained and cultivated as a vegetable for the large fleshy leaf sheaths; the capillaceum (wild fennel), perennial present in the peninsula and in the islands of Istria (uncultivated grassy, ​​escarpments, roadsides); the annue sativum forms, cultivated for aromatic achenes; the piperitum variety with a perennial Mediterranean distribution with fruits and an unpleasant sour taste.

Areal

Fennel is believed to originate in Asia Minor, but was widespread throughout the Mediterranean area: in fact it was known by the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Arabs. Today the largest production areas are India, Egypt, Pakistan, China, Indonesia and Argentina.

Crop, harvest and yields

The crop, which lasts two years, is implanted in February-March, by direct sowing with "seeds" of recent production, otherwise there may be phenomena of dormancy that intervene to prevent germination.

Sowing, usually between 4 and 6 kg / ha, is performed with 50 cm spaced rows.

Fertilizations: fennel reacts positively to the phosphorus richness of the soil; consequently it is advisable to administer, for sowing, large phosphatic fertilizers (100-150 kg / ha), while for potassium more modest inputs are sufficient. As for nitrogen it is good not to exceed; normally 50-60 kg / ha after the emergence of the crop, followed by another similar dose in the spring of the second year, may be sufficient to meet the needs of the plant.

The crop is not very demanding as far as water is concerned.

When the crop is destined to the production of the leaves, we intervene with the mowing in early summer, before the emission of the inflorescence. In this case it is also possible to perform a second mowing in late summer.

Instead, the fruits are harvested mechanically in September of the second year, when those of the central umbrella have a light yellow color. After harvesting the fruits are cleaned by the inflorescence, and then dried at a temperature not exceeding 40 ° C.

The yield in leaves is 8-10 t / ha of fresh material which, when dried, is reduced to 1.5-2.5 t / ha.

Fruit production, in a good crop, can vary from 1.5 t / ha

The fruits provide an essential oil yield of 4-5% compared to the dry weight.

The oil yield of the dry plant, excluding the fruits, is 0.4-0.5%.

The quality of the essence is better in the cultivation stations located at high altitudes (800 m asl) compared to those at a lower altitude.

Drug

It consists of dried fruits for the extraction of the essential oil, which is displaced for about 60% in the fruits and the remainder in the rays of the umbels and in the other green parts of the plant; The essence, of a greenish color, consists of about 70% of anethole and the remaining part of several other substances. So far over 30 have been identified; the most represented are fencone, methylcaviculus, estragole, pinene, as well as myrcene, limonene and fellandrene. If the essential oil is stored for too long periods (2 years) from the anolool, self-oxidation products originate (which can be used to evaluate the age of the oil) or others with estrogenic properties. It is very important to scrupulously respect the prescribed doses since anethole in high doses causes convulsions.

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uses

In dietetics : the fruits are used in liqueur, pastry and as a flavoring for cold cuts and appetizers; stems and leaf sheaths are consumed in salads or to give flavor to broths and roasts.

Fennels, besides being rich in vitamins and mineral salts, are rich in active ingredients that make them particularly useful for: gout, fatigue, loss of appetite, rheumatism, flatulence, vomiting, weak eyesight.

Being rich in flavonoids or phytoestrogens, natural estrogenic substances, fennel has a balancing effect on female hormone levels, can promote regularization of the menstrual cycle, milk secretion and prevent breast cancer. Acts on the liver and detoxification systems by regularizing and improving liver function. It also acts on the nervous system preventing and / or relieving muscle spasms.

Fennel fruits, improperly called seeds, contain volatile oils in quantities ranging from 0.8 to 4%. Among these, the main constituents are a sweet essential oil, anethole, and a bitter substance, the phonon. They are attributable to the well-known stimulating action on the motility of the stomach and intestine (carminative), which makes fennel seeds particularly useful in the presence of meteorism and flatulence. The same essential oils are also attributable to the increase, due to the reflex phenomenon, of the salivary secretion.

In herbal medicine and pesticide fennel is indicated against dyspepsia, heaviness of the stomach, flatulence, meteorism, colitis, digestive atony, coughing inflammation of the airways areas. It also has estrogenic, antifermentative, expectorant, and is useful against menstrual problems.