Page 61 - Pharmacognosy 02-06203

Geographical distribution:
Anise is indigenous to the eastern Mediterranean region, western Asia and Europe. It is
cultivated in southern Europe and northern Africa, and in Argentina, Bulgaria, Chile,
China, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Mexico, Romania, Russian Federation and
Turkey.

Macroscopical characters
It occurs as entire cremocarps with the attached carpophore and partly separated into
mericarps.

The cremocarp is ovoid conical, pear-shaped, greenish-grey, seldom grayish-brown and
crowned by a short bifurcate stylopod.
It is 3-6 mm long and 2-3 mm wide

The outer surface is rather rough (pubescent) due to the presence of numerous very short,
stiff hairs and shows 5 minute pale brown primary ridges.

The T.S. shows a pericarp with 20 to 40 vittae on the dorsal surface (branched vittae) and
2 vittae on the commissural side.
The endosperm is orthospermous and not deeply grooved.

Organoleptic properties:
Anise has strong characteristic aromatic agreeable odour and sweet strongly aromatic
taste.

N.B. Anise fruits should contain not more than 4% of stalks and other f oreign organic
matters and not less than 2% v/w essential oil.

Microscopic characteristics:
I- Pericarp:

a- Epicarp, consists of polygonal cells with striated cuticle, many of which project into
short, conical curved, thick-walled unicellular occasionally bicellular, non -glandular
trichomes with bluntly pointed apex and finely warty cuticle.

b- Mesocarp, consists of parenchyma traversed longitudinally by numerous
schizogenous vittae with brown epithelial cells and in each primary ridge by a small
vascular bundle. Few lignified porous cells are present as a patch, only in the central
region of the commissural side.

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