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Botanical Name : Foeniculum vulgare
Family Name:Apiaceae
vernacular Name: Sans-Miaseya ,Hind - saumph , Eng –Femmel

Synonyms: Fenkel. Sweet Fennel. Wild Fennel.
Parts Used:  Seeds, leaves, roots.
Habitat: Fennel, a hardy, perennial, umbelliferous herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaves, grows wild in most parts of temperate Europe, but is generally considered indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean, whence it spreads eastwards to India. It has followed civilization, especially where Italians have colonized, and may be found growing wild in many parts of the world upon dry soils near the sea-coast and upon river-banks. It flourishes particularly on limestone soils and is now naturalized in some parts of this country, being found from North Wales southward and eastward to Kent, being most frequent in Devon and Cornwall and on chalk cliffs near the sea. It is often found in chalky districts inland in a semi-wild state.

Funnel umbels ………………………………………………………Dried funnel seeds

Etymology
The genus name foeniculum    probably refers to the aroma of fennel and is the source of the name of fennel in many contemporary European languages. Examples are German Fenchel, Italian finocchio, Portuguese funcho , Dutch venkel, Finnish fenkoli and Russian fenkhel.

Some languages do not distinguish clearly between fennel and anise. For example, in Amharic, the name insilal   may stand for fennel, anise and even dill. In Hebrew tongue, the term shumar    may also used for anise, although there is a separate name for the latter, anis . Moreover, dill has a very similar name: shamir  ” to make things worse, ash-shamir [?????] is the name of fennel in Arabic!

Also in Romanian and Turkish languages, one finds identical or very similar terms for fennel and anise, which might fool a cook (or cookbook writer). Some European languages name fennel as a variant of dill, e.g., Estonian apteegitill and Russian aptechnyi ukrop . On the other hand, a Yiddish name of fennel is italienisher koper

In the Hindi tongue, anise and fennel are often synonymously called saunf    although of the two spices, only fennel is common in Indian cuisine. To make a clear distinction between the both, fennel may also be called moti saunf , because its fruits are somewhat larger. The closely related Urdu tongue has distinct names for fennel (saunf [????]) and anise (anisuan

Sensory quality
Sweet and aromatic, similar to anise. For other sweet spices, see licorice.

Fennel pollen, also known as “spice of the angels”, has a subtle fennel flavour, lacking some of the sweetness but with a distinct note of pine needles (though others might disagree with this association of mine).

Main constituents
The content of essential varies strongly (0.6 to 6%); fruits in the center of an umbel are generally greater, greener and stronger in fragrance. Time of harvest and climate are also important.

The essential oil of the most important fennel variety (var. dulce) contains anethole (50 to 80%), limonene (5%), fenchone (5%), estragole (methyl-chavicol), safrole, a-pinene (0.5%), camphene, ß-pinene, ß-myrcene and p-cymene. In contrast, the uncultivated form (var. vulgare) contains often more essential oil, but since it is characterized by the bitter fenchone (12 to 22%), it is of little value.

Traditional Ethnic Uses:Mainly fennel goes well with fish and is used in Italian sausages and some curry powder mixes.Indians use it as mouth freshner (chew it after a meal) and as spice in most of the dishes they cook.

Taste and Aroma

The fruits are sweet, acrid bitter, emollient, expectorant, ophthalmic, intellect promoting, carminative, digestive, stomachic, cardiac stimulant, galactagogue, aphrodisiac.

Usefuk in vitiated pitta, vata, burning sensation, cough, anaemia, flatulence, anorexia, colic, vomiting, dysentery, skin diseases, dysuria, splenopathy, nephropathy, cephalalgia and general debility.

Fennel has an aniselike flavor but is more aromatic, sweeter and less pungent.

History/Region of Origin
Fennel is native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean area. The name comes from the Greek word for “marathon” because the famous battle at Marathon (490 BC) against the Persians was fought on a field of Fennel. Pliny said that snakes casting off their skins ate Fennel to restore their eyesight. Toasting Fennel Seeds accentuates their flavor. Fennel Seed added to meatballs or meat loaf gives an authentic Italian flavor. Saute Fennel Seed with sliced peppers, onion, and sausage for a quick pasta sauce.

Healing with funnel seeds:

In herbal medicine it is mostly used to heal different kinds stomac diseases.

Fennel Seeds (Sauf) are very effective for digestive problems. These seeds can be chewed upon or had as a tea decoction for beneficial effects upon the stomach. In India, these are routinely chewed upon after meals to aid in digestion after a rich meal while acting as a herbal mouth freshener.

Fennel seeds often provide quick and effective relief from many digestive disorders. They help to overcome gas, cramps, acid indigestion, and many other digestive tract maladies.

To make Fennel tea, steep ½ teaspoon of crushed Fennel seed in a cup of boiling water for 10 minutes. Allow the tea to cool sufficiently if you’re giving it to an infant.

For a digestive aid, either chew a handful of seeds or try an infusion or tincture. The seeds have a pleasant, licorice-like flavor. Reach for Fennel to:

* Soothe Indigestion: Like many other aromatic herbs, Fennel appears to relax the smooth muscle lining of the digestive tract to help expel gas. European research shows it also kills some bacteria, lending support to another of its traditional uses-to treat diarrhea.

* Stimulate menstruation: One study suggests the herb has a mild estrogenic effect, meaning it acts like the female sex hormone, estrogen. This action may have something to do with its traditional use as a milk and menstruation promoter.

Cure colic: In a recent Israeli study, researchers gave an herbal Fennel tea to 33 colicky babies and a non-medicinal drink to 35 other colicky infants for seven days. More babies who received Fennel tea showed improvement that those who received the placebo drink. Although the study is from conclusive, it can’t hurt to try giving Fennel tea to a colicky baby. “It’ worth a try, because colic is such a complex thing,” says Dr. DerMarderosian

Description:
Fennel is a beautiful plant. It has a thick, perennial root-stock, stout stems, 4 to 5 feet or more in height, erect and cylindrical, bright green and so smooth as to seem polished, much branched bearing leaves cut into the very finest of segments. The bright golden flowers, produced in large, flat terminal umbels, with from thirteen to twenty rays, are in bloom in July and August.
....
In the kitchen garden this naturally ornamental, graceful plant, generally has its stems cut down to secure a constant crop of green leaves for flavouring and garnishing, so that the plant is seldom seen in the same perfection as in the wild state. In the original wild condition, it is variable as to size, habit, shape and colour of leaf, number of rays in the flower-head or umbel, and shape of fruit, but it has been under cultivation for so long that there are now several well-marked species. The Common Garden Fennel (F. Capillaceum or officinale) is distinguished from its wild relative (F. vulgare) by having much stouter, taller, tubular and larger stems, and less divided leaves, but the chief distinction is that the leaf-stalks form a curved sheath around the stem, often even as far as the base of the leaf above. The flower-stalks, or pedicels, of the umbels are also sturdier, and the fruits, 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, are double the size of the wild ones.

Cultivation:
Fennel will thrive anywhere, and a plantation will last for years. It is easily propagated by seeds, sown early in April in ordinary soil. It likes plenty of sun and is adapted to dry and sunny situations, not needing heavily manured ground, though it will yield more on rich stiff soil. From 4 1/2 to 5 lb. of seed are sown per acre, either in drills, 15 inches apart, lightly, just covered with soil and the plants afterwards thinned to a similar distance, or sewn thinly in a bed and transplanted when large enough. The fruit is heavy and a crop of 15 cwt. per acre is an average yield.

The roots of Fennel were formerly employed in medicine, but are generally inferior in virtues to the fruit, which is now the only portion recognized by any of the Pharmacopoeias.

The cessation of the supply of Fennel fruits from the Continent during the War led to its being grown more extensively here, any crop produced being almost certain to sell well.

There are several varieties of Fennel fruit known in commerce – sweet or Roman Fennel, German or Saxon Fennel, wild or bitter Fennel, Galician Russian and Roumanian Fennel, Indian, Persian and Japanese. The fruits vary very much in length, breadth, taste and other characters, and are of very different commercial value.

The most esteemed Fennel fruit vary from three to five lines in length, are elliptical, slightly curved, somewhat obtuse at the ends and pale greyish green in colour. Wild fruits are short, dark coloured and blunt at their ends, and have a less agreeable flavour and odour than those of sweet Fennel – they are not official.

Fennel fruits are frequently distinguished into ‘shorts’ and ‘longs’ in commerce, the latter being the most valued.

The odour of Fennel seed is fragrant, its taste, warm, sweet and agreeably aromatic. It yields its virtues to hot water, but more freely to alcohol. The essential oil may be separated by distillation with water.

For medicinal use, the fruits of the cultivated Fennel, especially those grown in Saxony, are alone official, as they yield the most volatile oil. Saxon fruits are greenish to yellowish-brown in colour, oblong, smaller and straighter than the French or Sweet Fennel (F. dulce). This French Fennel, known also as Roman Fennel, is distinguished by its greater length, more oblong form, yellowish-green colour and sweet taste; its anise-like odour is also stronger. It is cultivated in the neighbourhood of Nimes, in the south of France, but yields comparatively little oil, which has no value medicinally.

Indian Fennel is brownish, usually smaller, straighter and not quite so rounded at the ends with a sweet anise taste. Persian and Japanese fennel, pale greenish brown in colour, are the smallest and have a sweeter, still more strongly anise taste and an odour intermediate between that of French and Saxon.

The Saxon, Galician, Roumanian and Russian varieties all yield 4 to 5 per cent of volatile oil, and these varieties are alone suitable for pharmaceutical use. In the ordinary way they furnish some of the best Fennel crops, and from their fruit a large portion of the oil of commerce is derived.

For family use, 1/2 oz. of seed will produce an ample supply of plants and for several years, either from the established roots, or by re-seeding. Unless seed is needed for household or sowing purposes, the flower stems should be cut as soon as they appear.

Grow Your Own:
Fennel is a striking 6-foot tall perennial with feathery leaves and tall stalks capped by large umbrella-like clusters of tiny yellow flowers. The tiny oval fruits (seeds) are ribbed and greenish gray. All parts of the plant have the herb’s characteristic licorice fragrance.

To grow Fennel, plant seeds in rich, moist soil after danger of frost has passed. Germination takes about two weeks. Thin seedlings to 12 inches apart. Do not over-water. Harvest seeds in late summer as they turn greenish-gray.

Note: Fennel may damage neighboring plants, including bush beans, tomatoes, caraway and kohlrabi. Also, if coriander seeds are planted nearby, Fennel won’t fruit.

Medicinal Action and Uses:
On account of its aromatic and carminative properties, Fennel fruit is chiefly used medicinally with purgatives to allay their tendency to griping and for this purpose forms one of the ingredients of the well-known compound Liquorice Powder. Fennel water has properties similar to those of anise and dill water: mixed with sodium bicarbonate and syrup, these waters constitute the domestic ‘Gripe Water,’ used to correct the flatulence of infants. Volatile oil of Fennel has these properties in concentration.

Fennel tea, formerly also employed as a carminative, is made by pouring half a pint of boiling water on a teaspoonful of bruised Fennel seeds.

Syrup prepared from Fennel juice was formerly given for chronic coughs.

Fennel is also largely used for cattle condiments.

It is one of the plants which is said to be disliked by fleas, and powdered Fennel has the effect of driving away fleas from kennels and stables. The plant gives off ozone most readily.

Culpepper says:
‘One good old custom is not yet left off, viz., to boil fennel with fish, for it consumes the phlegmatic humour which fish most plentifully afford and annoy the body with, though few that use it know wherefore they do it. It benefits this way, because it is a herb of Mercury, and under Virgo, and therefore bears antipathy to Pisces. Fennel expels wind, provokes urine, and eases the pains of the stone, and helps to break it. The leaves or seed boiled in barley water and drunk, are good for nurses, to increase their milk and make it more wholesome for the child. The leaves, or rather the seeds, boiled in water, stayeth the hiccup and taketh away nausea or inclination to sickness. The seed and the roots much more help to open obstructions of the liver, spleen, and gall, and thereby relieve the painful and windy swellings of the spleen, and the yellow jaundice, as also the gout and cramp. The seed is of good use in medicines for shortness of breath and wheezing, by stoppings of the lungs. The roots are of most use in physic, drinks and broths, that are taken to cleanse the blood, to open obstructions of the liver, to provoke urine, and amend the ill colour of the face after sickness, and to cause a good habit through the body; both leaves, seeds, and roots thereof, are much used in drink, or broth, to make people more lean that are too fat. A decoction of the leaves and root is good for serpent bites, and to neutralize vegetable poison, as mushrooms, etc.’
‘In warm climates,’ says Mattiolus, ‘the stems are cut and there exudes a resinous liquid, which is collected under the name of Fennel Gum.’
In Italy and France, the tender leaves areoften used for garnishes and to add flavour to salads, and are also added, finely chopped, to sauces served with puddings. Roman bakers are said to put the herb under their loaves in the oven to make the bread taste agreeably.

The tender stems are employed in soups in Italy, though are more frequently eaten raw as a salad. John Evelyn, in his Acetaria (1680), held that the peeled stalks, soft and white, of the cultivated garden Fennel, when dressed like celery exercised a pleasant action conducive to sleep. The Italians eat these peeled stems, which they call ‘Cartucci’ as a salad, cutting them when the plant is about to bloom and serving with a dressing of vinegar and pepper.

Formerly poor people used to eat Fennel to satisfy the cravings of hunger on fast days and make unsavoury food palatable; it was also used in large quantities in the households of the rich, as may be seen by the record in the accounts of Edward I.’s household, 8 1/2 lb. of Fennel were bought for one month’s supply.
Click to see:->Fennel Uses & Benefits
Preparations:   Fluid extract, 5 to 30 drops. Oil, 1 to 5 drops. Water, B.P. and U.S.P., 4 drachms.

Safety Considerations:
Fennel is included on the Food and Drug Administration’s list of herbs generally regarded as safe. But because of its estrogenic effect, pregnant women should avoid medicinal amounts of the herb.

Warning: Don’t harvest Fennel in the wild; it closely resembles poison hemlock, which can cause death if ingested.

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Extracted from:/www.viable-herbal.com/  and http://www.ayurvedakalamandiram.com/herbs.htm#sariba and http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/f/fennel01.html

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