The Role of Star Anise and the Difference Between It and Fennel

Anise is a fruit of the Magnoliaceae, anise genus. Its nature is pungent and warm, and it belongs to the liver, kidney, spleen, and stomach meridians. So what are the functions and functions of star anise?

Ⅰ. Star anise can act as a spice

The conventional use of star anise is to act as a spice, and it is widely used in the food processing industry such as meat products, condiments, soft drinks, cold drinks, candies, cakes, and baked goods. When cooking, adding some star anise can increase the fragrance, and adding some star anise when pickling food can also play a role in removing fishy smell and incense, and it can also be directly processed into five-spice seasoning powder.

Ⅱ. The medicinal value of star anise

1. Warm Yang and dispel cold. Due to the mild nature of star anise, most people can eat it. It has the functions of expelling cold, relieving pain, and strengthening the spleen. Many diseases such as constipation and abdominal pain can eat some star anise.

2. Regulate Qi and relieve pain. Star anise is pungent and warm, which can warm the middle, dispel cold and relieve pain, and at the same time relieve the qi of the spleen, stomach and liver. As the saying goes, "No pain in general", warming yang and dispelling cold to promote the circulation of qi and blood have a good therapeutic effect on pain caused by coldness and qi stagnation. As usual, it can be used to treat testicular swelling and pain caused by liver qi stagnation, and abdominal distension and pain caused by chills and qi stagnation.

3. Antibacterial. The alcohol extract of star anise can inhibit Staphylococcus aureus, pneumococcus and diphtheria bacillus, Escherichia coli, typhoid and paratyphoid bacillus, dysentery bacillus in test tube, and also has a certain inhibitory effect on fungi.

4. Promote gastrointestinal motility. The main ingredient of star anise is fennel oil, which can stimulate the gastrointestinal nerves and blood vessels, promote the secretion of digestive juice, increase gastrointestinal motility, and has the effect of strengthening the stomach and qi, helping to relieve spasm and pain.

5. Increase white blood cells. Anisene can promote the maturation of bone marrow cells and release them into the peripheral blood, which can significantly increase white blood cells, mainly neutrophils, and can be used for leukopenia.

Ⅲ. Star anise can act as an industrial raw material

The peel, seeds and leaves of star anise contain aromatic oil, which is an important raw material for the manufacture of cosmetics, sweet wine, beer and food industries. It is widely used in chemical, medical and other fields, such as flavoring agent and insect repellant for cigarettes, soap, mouthwash, toothpaste and other daily chemical products.