Newsletter written by John Cooper and Alice Hershiser.
Information from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fennel
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum (most botanists treat this as the sole species in the genus). It is a hardy, perennial, umbelliferous (family of usually aromatic plants with hollow stems) herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. Generally considered indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean, it has become widely naturalized, and is now found growing wild in many parts of the world, especially on dry soils near the sea-coast and on river-banks.
It is a highly aromatic and flavorful herb with culinary and medicinal uses, and is one of the primary ingredients of absinthe.
Fennel is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the Mouse Moth and the Anise Swallowtail.
The word fennel developed from the Middle English fenel or fenyl, which came from the Old English fenol or finol, which in turn came from the Latin feniculum or foeniculum, the diminutive of fenum or faenum, meaning "hay". The Latin word for the plant was ferula, which is now used as the genus name of a related plant. As Old English finule it is one of the nine plants invoked in the pagan Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs Charm, recorded in the 10th century.
In Ancient Greek, fennel was called marathon (μάραθον). John Chadwick notes that this word is the origin of the place name Marathon (meaning "place of fennel"), site of the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC; however, Chadwick notes that he has "not seen any fennel growing there now". In Greek mythology, Prometheus used the stalk of a fennel plant to steal fire from the gods. Also, it was from the giant fennel, Ferula communis, that the Bacchanalian wands of the god Dionysus and his followers were said to have come.
Fennel is widely cultivated throughout the world for its edible, strongly-flavoured leaves and seeds. Its aniseed flavour comes from anethole, an aromatic compound also found in anise and star anise.
Anethole is a flavoring substance of commercial value. It is distinctly sweet, measuring 13 times sweeter than sugar. It is perceived as being pleasant to the taste even at higher concentrations. Anethole is used in alcoholic drinks such as absinthe, seasoning and confectionery applications, oral hygiene products, and in small quantities in natural berry flavors.
Anethole has potent antimicrobial properties, against bacteria, yeast, and fungi. Antifungal activity includes increasing the effectiveness of some other phytochemicals (eg polygodial) against Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans; this synergistic effect has potential medical uses.