Scientific name: Pimpinella anisum L.
Family: Apiaceae
Brief history and botanical notes on the plant
Green anise is a plant native to the East, it is cultivated in most of Europe, in Asia Minor, India, North Africa, the territories of the former Soviet Union and Mexico. As for Italy, green anise grows spontaneously in Sicily and cultivations are mainly concentrated in Emilia and Tuscany.
Anise is an annual herbaceous plant 40-60 cm tall, with an erect, apically branched stem.
The root is taproot. The leaves, not very numerous and alternate, have a pronounced heterophyly: those located near the base are usually rounded in shape, toothed, lobed and equipped with a long petiole (which forms a small sheath towards the base); the intermediate ones are trifoliate, toothed; the cauline ones are finely incised, feathery and with a shorter petiole. Anise flowers are small, yellowish-white in color and arranged in 8-12-rayed umbel inflorescences; the calyx is reduced to 5 teeth, the actinomorphic corolla has five petals; stamens 5 and bilocular inferior ovary. The flowering period is midsummer. The fruit is a schizocarp, made up of two ovoid achenes covered with stiff bristly hairs and equipped with numerous oil sacs. Anise has a sweet and spicy flavor. The aroma of the plant is pleasant.
Family and variety
Green anise, scientific name Pimpinella anisum L., belongs to the Umbelliferae family.
Pedoclimatic needs
It is a plant that prefers sunny places sheltered from the wind and does not like sudden changes in temperature. The soil must be fertile, light, well-drained and with a pH between 6.3 and 7.3. However, it tolerates clayey, compacted soils and shading poorly.
Sowing and transplanting times
Its reproduction occurs through seeds to be planted directly in the garden. Since it fears night frosts (it requires at least 120 days of favorable environmental conditions), sowing is carried out in March-April and since the seeds are small, the covering with earth must be light and the sowing soil must have been finely worked. Rows 60 cm apart are prepared in the ground and the seeds are spread in each row. It is possible to mix them with a little sand, because spreading will be easier. Once sowing has been carried out, for a more perfect burial of the seed, a light raking can be carried out on the rows. It is necessary to wait about a month for germination, after which the anise seedling grows rapidly. If sowing has been done too thickly, thinning will have to be done by thinning out the seedlings when they reach about ten centimeters in height; it is best to try to avoid transplants because they are not well tolerated. Contain the development of weeds by weeding and irrigating if necessary.
Fertilizations
Anise takes advantage of the richness of calcium in the soil and organic substance. When sowing, the supply of localized phosphorus and potassium is not recommended, as the crop appears to be negatively affected. A final aspect of the cultivation technique concerns the possibility of combining our herbaceous plant with biennial plants, such as "caraway". The two species are sown, in alternate rows, at the same time in spring: the first year the production of anise will be obtained, the second that of caraway.
Crop care and irrigation
Watering, after sowing, must be constant and particularly abundant. The anise seed takes about 30 days to germinate, but, after the emission of the first leaves, its vegetative development continues very rapidly. When the seedlings have reached a reasonable height (10 cm), thinning is carried out, so that they can remain 30 cm apart from each other in the row. As the seedlings grow, weeding and weeding will be necessary; these works, to say the least, are primary in the summer months, because the weeds in their full development will begin to disseminate seeds everywhere.
Adversity
Among the crop adversities, in addition to adverse meteorological phenomena, such as frosts, an important place is occupied by fungal parasites that damage the leaves (Sclerotinia) and/or attack the fruits (Trichothecium roseum). Once in storage, green anise can be damaged by a beetle (Stegobium paniceum). However, these parasites do not cause enough damage to require protection interventions.
Collection
When the umbels (the flower scapes) take on the characteristic grey-green colour, generally in August-September, it is time to cut the plants at the base (preferably in the early hours of the morning when the dew prevents the fruits from falling), form of the bundles and leave them to dry. After drying in dry and ventilated places, the umbels are beaten to release the seeds (achenes) to be stored in airtight jars.
Nutritional values
Anise has an oily substance, anethole. It is used in confectionery, liquor stores and pharmacies. It enters the composition of numerous aromatic desserts and breads, as well as sweets and various alcoholic beverages, including anisette and absinthe.
In phytotherapy it is a regulator of digestion, antispasmodic and carminative, it is also a sudorific and expectorant. To calm the cough, you can add anise to the decoction of primrose flowers or roots (Primula veris). In addition to sedative properties, it has other, less known but widely tested properties such as that of increasing milk flow while exerting its sedative action on the infant; or that of anticipating a delayed menstrual cycle. Chewing lightly toasted anise seeds at the end of a meal acts as a digestive and perfumes the breath. In folk medicine it was considered an aphrodisiac. The seeds also contain 18-23% fat, 16-20% protein and 3.5-5.5% sugar. Furthermore, a cup of anise infusion at the end of a meal promotes digestion and fights flatulence. The main constituents of the essential oil are trans-anethole (80-95%) which gives it its characteristic pleasant smell, while the cis-anethole isomer is toxic.
Biodynamics
Sowing, cultivation care and harvesting on flowering days. Use compost whose fermentation/maturation process has been "harmonized" by the biodynamic heap preparations. If necessary, use horsetail decoction before symptoms of cryptogam attack appear.
Umbelliferae are plants in which the predominance of the etheric is very pronounced (just think of the termination of fennel leaves, they seem to dissolve towards the cosmos) and green dill expresses this "etheric lightness" even more when it is transformed into essential oil: a clear, colorless or pale yellow liquid; while the taste is sweet and spicy and the smell is aromatic and pleasant. Dill therefore brings us back lightness where we are "pushed" downwards thanks also to its balsamic and expectorant properties.