Anise

Anise essential oil can be obtained from the fruits by either steam distillation or extraction using supercritical carbon dioxide.[13] The yield of essential oil is influenced by the growing conditions[14] and extraction process, with supercritical extraction being more efficient.[13] Regardless of the method of isolation the main component of the oil is anethole (80–90%), with minor components including 4-anisaldehyde, estragole and pseudoisoeugenyl-2-methylbutyrates, amongst others.[15] Anethole is responsible for anise's characteristic odor and flavor.[16]

An unwrapped 'Troach drop', purchased at the Black Country Living Museum in the English Midlands, where such sweets are traditional

Anise is sweet and very aromatic, distinguished by its characteristic flavour.[7] The seeds, whole or ground, are used for preparation of teas and tisanes (alone or in combination with other aromatic herbs), as well as in a wide variety of regional and ethnic confectioneries, including black jelly beans, British aniseed balls and "troach" drops,[17] Australian humbugs, New Zealand aniseed wheels, Italian pizzelle, German Pfeffernüsse and Springerle, Austrian Anisbögen, Dutch muisjes, New Mexican bizcochitos, and Peruvian picarones. It is a key ingredient in Mexican atole de anís and champurrado, which is similar to hot chocolate, it is taken as a digestive after meals in India and Pakistan, and it's used in brines in the Italian region of Puglia.

The ancient Romans often served spiced cakes with aniseed called mustaceoe[18] at the end of feasts as a digestive. This tradition of serving cake at the end of festivities is the basis for the tradition of serving cake at weddings.[19]

Anise alcohols of the Mediterranean region

Anise is used to flavor Greek ouzo;[20] Italian sambuca;[20] Bulgarian and Macedonian mastika;[20] French absinthe, anisette,[21] and pastis;[22] Spanish Anís del Mono,[23] Anísado[20] and Herbs de Majorca;[24] Turkish and Armenian rakı;[20] Lebanese, Egyptian, Syrian, Jordanian, and Israeli arak;[20] and Algerian Anisette Cristal.[20] Outside the Mediterranean region, it is found in Colombian aguardiente[21] and Mexican Xtabentún.[25] These liquors are clear, but on addition of water become cloudy, a phenomenon known as the ouzo effect.[26][27]

Anise is used together with other herbs and spices in some root beers, such as Virgil's in the United States.[28][29]

The main use of anise in traditional European herbal medicine was for its carminative effect (reducing flatulence),[4] as noted by John Gerard in his Great Herball, an early encyclopedia of herbal medicine:

The seed wasteth and consumeth winde, and is good against belchings and upbraidings of the stomach, alaieth gripings of the belly, provoketh urine gently, maketh abundance of milke, and stirreth up bodily lust: it staieth the laske (diarrhea), and also the white flux (leukorrhea) in women.[30]

According to Pliny the Elder, anise was used as a cure for sleeplessness, chewed with alexanders and a little honey in the morning to freshen the breath, and, when mixed with wine, as a remedy for asp bites (N.H. 20.72).[31] In 19th-century medicine, anise was prepared as aqua anisi ("Water of Anise") in doses of an ounce or more and as spiritus anisi ("Spirit of Anise") in doses of 5–20 minims.[8] In Turkish folk medicine, its seeds have been used as an appetite stimulant, tranquilizer, or diuretic.[32]

Builders of steam locomotives in Britain incorporated capsules of aniseed oil into white metal plain bearings, so the distinctive smell would give warning in case of overheating.[33] Anise can be made into a liquid scent and is used for both drag hunting and fishing. It is put on fishing lures to attract fish.[34][35]