tailieunhanh - Ebook Chemistry of apices: Part 2

(BQ) Part 2 book "Chemistry of apices" has contents: Fennel, fenugreek, paprika and chilli, vanilla, ajowan, star anise, aniseed, garcinia, tamarind, parsley, celery, curry leaf, bay leaf. | 12 Fennel Shamina Azeez . Introduction Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) belongs to the family Apiaceae (formerly the Umbelliferae). It is native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean region and is cultivated mainly in India, Rumania, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Argentina and the USA. India’s export of fennel has improved slightly in the years 2001/02, 2002/03 and 2003/04, the value of which is given in Table . Etymologically, the word fennel developed from Middle English fenel, feny; Anglo-Saxon fenol, finol, from Latin feniculum, fœniculum, diminutive of fenum, fœnum, meaning ‘hay’. In Ancient Greek, fennel was called marathon and is attested in Linear B tablets as ma-ra-tu-wo. This is the origin of the place name, Marathon (meaning ‘place of fennel’), site of the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. Greek mythology claims Prometheus used the stalk of a fennel plant to steal fire from the gods. In medieval times, fennel was used in conjunction with St John’s wort to keep away witchcraft and other evil things. This might have originated because fennel can be used as an insect repellent. Fennel is thought to be one of the nine herbs held sacred by the Anglo-Saxons (Duke, 2000). . Botany and Uses Botany Weiss (2002) describes the botany of the species in detail, the salient features of which are given here. Foeniculum is stated to have three species, F. vulgare (fennel), F. azoricum Mill. (Florence fennel) and F. dulce (sweet fennel). The basic chromosome number of the species is 11, thus fennel is a diploid with 2 n = 22. It is a highly aromatic perennial herb, erect, glaucous green and grows to 2 m tall. The leaves grow up to 40 cm long; they are finely dissected, with the ultimate segments filiform, about mm wide. The flowers are produced in terminal compound umbels 5–15 cm wide, each umbel section with 20–50 tiny yellow flowers on short pedicels. The fruit is a dry seed from 4–9 mm long, half as wide or less, and grooved. Uses Fennel