Annasi Poo: The Natural Remedy You Need in Your Kitchen

Star anise seeds provide a rich array of vital B-complex vitamins and essential minerals such as calcium, iron, copper, potassium, manganese, zinc, and magnesium.

Botanical Name: Illicium verum

Tamil Name: அண்ணாசி பூ – Annasi Poo

Malayalam Name: നക്ഷത്ര സോപ്പ് വിത്ത് – nakṣatra sēāpp vitt

Hindi Name: स्टार अनीस सीड – staar anees seed

Telugu Name: స్టార్ సోంపు సీడ్ – Sṭār sōmpu sīḍ

About Star Anise Seed:

The Illicium verum tree, known as star anise or Chinese star anise, comes from northeast Vietnam and southwest China. In Tamil, it is called Annasi Poo. The fruit of this tree has a star-shaped covering from which star anise oil is made. This oil is used in cooking, soaps, toothpaste, mouthwashes, skin creams, and perfumes because of its strong smell. Most of the world's star anise is grown to extract shikimic acid, which is important for making oseltamivir.

Health Benefits of Annasi Poo;

• The exotic anise spice contains important chemical compounds that are said to be antioxidants, have disease-prevention properties, and promote health.
• Anethole, a volatile primary oil, gives anise seeds a sweet and aromatic taste. Estragole is another important compound, as are p-anisaldehyde and anise alcohol.
• Anise seed oil, derived from the seeds, has many benefits in traditional medicine, including stomachic, antiseptics, antispasmodics, carminatives, digestives, expectorants, stimulants, and tonic agents.
• The main source of B-complex essential vitamins, such as pyridoxine and riboflavin, is anise seeds. Pyridoxine, vitamin B-6, increases GABA levels in the brain.
• The most important mineral source is these spicy seeds. They contain calcium, iron and copper. They also have potassium, zinc, manganese and magnesium. Iron content in 100g of dry seeds is 39.90mg or 42% of the daily requirement.
• Potassium is an essential component of body fluids and cells. It helps regulate heart rate and blood pressure.
• Copper is a critical cofactor in many enzymes, including cytochrome C oxidase, superoxide dismutase, and cytochrome C oxidase. Copper is required for the production of red blood cells. This spice contains antioxidant vitamins like vitamins C and A.

Medicinal use;

• Anise seeds are used in traditional medicine to promote health and prevent disease.
• Anise can treat digestive disorders like nausea, flatulence, colicky stomach, indigestion, and bloating.
• Anethole essential oil has estrogenic effects.
• For breast milk production, nursing mothers are advised to drink a decoction made from seeds. Anise seed can be used to treat infants with a running nose.