The Greeks, including Hippocrates (who suggested it for coughs); the people of Asia Minor, and the Romans found many medicinal applications for it. It was used as a breath sweetener and an aphrodisiac, to relieve flatule...
* Please Note: This information is based partly on Traditional Medicine which uses natural materials to support health. This information has not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor.
Description
Medicinal Usage
The Greeks, including Hippocrates (who suggested it for coughs); the people of Asia Minor, and the Romans found many medicinal applications for it. It was used as a breath sweetener and an aphrodisiac, to relieve flatulence and colic, to stimulate mother's milk, and to combat giddiness and nausea. By the 16th century, Europeans had discovered that anise was an irresistible bait for mice. The oil of the seed has been used to poison pigeons.
Today anise's famous licorice taste is found in both culinary and medicinal products. Its seeds flavor cough medicines, cough drops, baked goods, candies, and liqueurs. Its leaves are added to salads and used as garnishes.
Anise has wide commercial popularity as a fragrance and a flavoring. Its ancient use as a carminative - that is, to relieve gas pains - continues today and is substantiated by modern research in pharmacology.
General Herb Information
The ancient Romans were so fond of the seed of anise, with its spicy aroma and licorice taste, that they made it an ingredient of a special cake, with which they concluded their notoriously enormous feasts. But man's appreciation of anise goes back to much earlier times, for it is one of the oldest known herbs, mentioned in records long before the birth of Christ.
With its dainty white flowers that grow in umbrellalike clusters, anise looks much like Queen Anne's lace, but it is shorter and the flower clusters have no bracts.
Habitat: Warm, sunny gardens with well-drained, moderately rich, sandy soil.
Range: Cultivated throughout North America as a garden plant, anise occasionally escaped from cultivation to be found in the wild.
Identification: An annual growing 1-2 feet high with an erect, smooth stem. Leaves at the base are thick and pinnately arranged; the leaflets are oval with toothed edges. The bright green upper leaves are smaller and feathery. Tiny white to yellow blossoms (July-August) grow in umbrellalike clusters. The downy brown seedlike fruits (August-September) produce the essential oil for which this licorice-smelling herb is noted.
Pronounced with emphasis on the first syllable, anise is sometimes called aniseed, and was used in the sixteenth century as mousetrap bait, as mice could not resist it. Many humans find it irresistible, too. Originally from Greece and Egypt, anise traveled with the Romans to Europe and England and was one of the first herbs brought to America. It is widely cultivated and considered helpful in the treatment of asthma, colic, bronchitis, and nausea. It is also believed to promote milk production in nursing mothers, to induce sleep, and to bring on menstruation. It is frequently used as a flavoring agent in candies and liqueurs.
Plant Facts and Growing Tips
Plant: An annual, anise has two types of leaves: those that grow thickly at the base of the stem and are bright green, oval, and tooth-edged; and those on the stems, which are smaller and elongated, and each divided into three segments. Tiny white flowers grow in thick, umbrella-like clusters at the tops of the stems. Seeds are light-colored and crescent-shaped, and a small piece of stem clings to them after harvesting.
Height: 2 feet.
Soil: Light, fairly well-worked soil, enriched with compost.
Exposure: Full sun.
Propagation: By seed, sown in spring during the first or second lunar phase after the days and nights are frost-free. Anise needs a temperature of 70°F (21°C) to germinate and 120 days of frost-free weather to mature. Sow it where it is to grow because the plant has a taproot and doesn't transplant well.
Care: A slow-growing plant that tends to lie down, anise requires continual weeding. Plants should be spaced 8 inches apart. Thin seedlings or pinch them off at the ground.
Parts Used for Tea: Leaves and seeds.
Taste: Aromatic and sweet with a licorice-like taste. Good brewed with warm milk, drink this tea just before going to bed.
How to Brew
Leaves - By Infusion: 1 teaspoon dried leaf (or 3 teaspoons fresh, crushed leaf) to 1 cup boiling water. Allow to steep.
Seeds - By Decoction: Crush or grind 1 tablespoon seeds and add to 2 cups boiling water. Reduce temperature and allow mixture to simmer gently for 5 to 10 minutes.
Spicy Seed Blend Tea
Here's a good seed blend to treat nausea and promote digestion. It's refreshing, with a pleasant aftertaste:
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon aniseed
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
Bruise seeds and combine. Infuse 1 teaspoon of mixture in 1 cup boiling water and steep 5 to 8 minutes, or to taste.
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Directions
Hot tea brewing method: Bring freshly drawn cold water to a rolling boil. Place 1 tea bag for each cup into the teapot. Pour the boiling water into the teapot. Cover and let steep for 3-7 minutes according to taste (the longer the steeping time the stronger the tea).
Iced tea brewing method (to make 1 liter/quart): Place 6 tea bags into a teapot or heat resistant pitcher. Pour 1 1/4 cups of freshly boiled water over the tea. Steep for 5 minutes. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold water. Pour the tea into your serving pitcher straining the bags. Add ice and top-up the pitcher with cold water. Garnish and sweeten to taste. [A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed iced tea is to double the strength of hot tea since it will be poured over ice and diluted with cold water].
Additional Information
ZooScape is proud to be the exclusive distributor of TerraVita teas, herbs and supplements in the United States, Canada and around the world. Please direct all wholesale and bulk inquiries to Simona Heather at 905-494-1785.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor. The essence of the current American rule on Traditional Uses is, as stated by FTC, "Claims based on historical or traditional use should be substantiated by confirming scientific evidence, or should be presented in such a way that consumers understand that the sole basis for the claim is a history of use of the product for a particular purpose."
