Herbs & Herbal Remedies @ Green Papaya

Licorice-Flavored Cough Remedy

Family: Umbelliferae; (includes Carrot, Parsley; Star Anise)

Magnoliaceae; (includes Magnolia)

Genus and species: Pimpinella anisum; Star Anise: Illicium Verum

Also known as: Aniseed, Sweet Cumin; Star Anise: Chinese anise, Illicium

Parts used: Fruits (”seeds”)

Anise sends down a long taproot. But its roots in the history of herbal healing are equally deep.

Since the time of the pharaohs, the aromatic seeds (actually fruits) of this small plant have had many uses. Its alluring fragrance made it one of the world’s earliest perfumes-and smelling salts. Ancient Greeks used it to prevent seizures.

Today the herb is best known as a popular spice. And its rich taste of licorice is used to make candy. In fact, most “licorice” candies contain no licorice. They are flavored with anise. Its taste can also be detected in many commercially made cough syrups and lozenges. For some, its flavor is even intoxicating:

The Greeks, for example, are known to love their anise-based ouzo, the French their pastis. But anise’s greatest potential is not found in the candy jar or liquor cabinet. It’s found in the medicine chest.

Sweet Dreams and Other Nice Payoffs

Hippocrates, the father of medicine, recommended the herb to help clear mucus from the respiratory system. His contemporary, Theophrastus had a more romantic use for the herb. He wrote that anise, when kept by one’s bed at night, brought sweet dreams with its sweet aroma. The Roman naturalist Pliny recommended chewing fresh anise seed as a breath freshener and digestive aid after big meals.

Ancient Chinese physicians made similar use of the Asian species of this herb, star anise-as a digestive aid, flatulence remedy, and breath freshener.

The Romans cultivated the herb extensively for its fragrance, flavor, and medicinal properties. Anise was one of several spices used to make a cake called mustaceum, which was often served as a dessert and digestive aid at Roman feasts. Historians consider mustaceum the forerunner of the modern wedding cake.

Early English herbalist John Gerard suggested anise for “hicket” (hiccups) It has also been prescribed as a milk promoter for nursing mothers and as a treatment for water retention, headache, asthma, bronchitis, insomnia, nausea, lice, infant colic, cholera, and even cancer.

America’s 19th-century Eclectic physicians recommended anise primarily as a stomach soother for nausea, gas, and infant colic.

In Central America, nursing women still use star anise to promote the flow of milk.

Anise was so important as a cash crop throughout the ancient Mediterranean, it was used as a medium of exchange for payment of taxes. In the Bible, Matthew 23:23 says: “Ye pay tithes of mint, anise, and cumin.” Anise was so popular in medieval England as a spice, medicine, and perfume that in 1305 King Edward I placed a special tax on it to raise money to repair London Bridge.