English common name is star anise fruit from mother plant Illicium verum
Contains mainly 5–7% essential oil, consisting of 86–93% trans-anethole, 0.5–6% estragole, plus feniculin, anisaldehyde, cis-anethole, alpha-terpineol, and linalool. In addition to the oil, the drug contains flavonoids (glycosides of quercetin and kaempferol), 3–9% shikimic acid, and sesquiterpene lactones known as veranisatins.
Used as an expectorant to help clear mucus in colds and as a carminative for spasmodic gastrointestinal complaints with bloating and flatulence.
The aggregate fruit is composed of six to eleven (usually eight) often irregularly developed boat-shaped follicles arranged radially around a short, blunt central column. Single follicles and seeds may be present. The distal end of each follicle tapers to a blunt, beak-like tip. The outer side of each follicle is reddish-brown to gray-brown, coarsely wrinkled; the inner side is shiny, reddish-brown, smooth. The ripe follicles have a longitudinal split along the top, revealing one hard, egg-shaped, laterally compressed, shiny brown seed. The fruit stalk is small, strongly curved distally, and often missing.
The drug is listed in the pharmacopoeia. It is also used for extracting its essential oil, which is pharmacopoeial as well.
In pulverized drug under the microscope we can see:
Serrated exocarp cells with striated cuticle
Anomocytic stomata
Oil cells in the mesocarp
Astrosclereids
Palisade sclereids in the endocarp and seed coat
In top view, the seed palisade layers appear strongly mottled
