ABSTRACT
Aniseed oil is the essential oil obtained from the fruit of the anise, Pimpinella anisum L. Pimpinella anisum L. is a herbaceous annual plant growing to one meter tall or higher. It probably originates from the eastern Mediterranean region and south-west Asia and is widely cultivated in the Mediterranean rim, Russia, South Africa, and Brazil. Western cuisines have long used anise to flavor some dishes, drinks, and candies. Anise is an essential ingredient in certain spirits such as arak, absinthe, anisette, pastis, ouzo, sambuca, and raki. The fruits are said to be antiseptic, antispasmodic, carminative, digestive, expectorant, stimulant, muscle relaxant, analgesic, anticonvulsant and stomachic. The essential oil obtained from the fruits is used in perfumery, toothpastes, medicinally, as a food flavoring and as an insecticide against head-lice and mites. Aniseed oil is a clear, more or less mobile liquid or solid crystalline mass, which has a spicy and sweet odor from the high amounts of anethole.
