Food therapy - Fennel

Fennel is a species of Foeniculum Vulgare, belong to the family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae), and native to the shores of the Mediterranean. It is now widely cultivated all around the globe to use as food and herb.
Nutritients
1. Carbohydrates
2. Fiber
3. Protein
4. Thiamine (Vitamin B1)
5. Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
6. Niacin (Vitamin B3)
7. Pantothenic acid (B5)
8. Vitamin B6
9. Folate (Vitamin B9)
10. Vitamin C
11. Calcium
12. Copper
13. Iron
14. Magnesium
15. Molybdenum
16. Phosphorus
17. Potassium
18. Zinc

Chemical constituents(1)(2)
1. 1,3-benzenediol
2. 1-methoxycyclohexene
3. O-cymene
4. Sorbic acid,
5. 2-hydroxy-3-methyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one
6. Estragole
7. Limonene-10-ol
8. 3-methyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one
9. Linoleic acid
10. Oleic acid
11. Undecanal
12. 2,4-undecadienal
13. trans-Anethole
14. Fenchone
15. Limonene

1. Fennel anti microbial activities
The immune system is the set of cells and their activity against antigens or infectious agents that comprises of the body's defense system against diseases. The immune system does a great job of keeping people healthy and preventing infections. Beside foods and nutritional supplements, herbs also play a important role in helping the immune system defend against viruses and bacteria attacks.
According to the study by the Ataturk University, chemical constituents from the inflorescence, leaf stems, and whole aerial parts of fennel, including anethole, and hexane extract showed effectively against most of the foodborne pathogenic, saprophytic, probiotic, and mycotoxigenic microorganisms tested(2). In comparison of essential oil from 3 different species of fennels, such as Essential oils of the fruits of three organically grown cultivars of Egyptian fennel (Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum, Foeniculum vulgare var. dulce and Foeniculum vulgare var. vulgare, researched indicated that all three cultivars showed similar antimicrobial activity(3). Unfortunately, the ¹Universidade do Algarve study, suggested that essential oils of fennel showed a very low antimicrobial activity, but exerted a pro-oxidant activity(4).

References
(1) Antimycobacterial activity of constituents from Foeniculum vulgare var. dulce grown in Mexico.by Esquivel-Ferriño PC¹, Favela-Hernández JM, Garza-González E, Waksman N, Ríos MY, del Rayo Camacho-Corona M.(PubMed)
(2) Chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of essential oils from organically cultivated fennel cultivars by Shahat AA¹, Ibrahim AY, Hendawy SF, Omer EA, Hammouda FM, Abdel-Rahman FH, Saleh MA.(PubMed)
(3) Chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of essential oils from organically cultivated fennel cultivars by Shahat AA¹, Ibrahim AY, Hendawy SF, Omer EA, Hammouda FM, Abdel-Rahman FH, Saleh MA.(PubMed)
(4) Foeniculum vulgare essential oils: chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities by Miguel MG¹, Cruz C, Faleiro L, Simões MT, Figueiredo AC, Barroso JG, Pedro LG.(PubMed)

2. Fennel as antioxidants
Free radicals are atoms, molecules, or ions with unpaired electrons through chemical bonds with other atoms or molecules during a chemical reaction. They may have positive, negative or zero charge. The unpaired electrons cause radicals to be highly chemically reactive in the human body, leading to aging and cancers.
The comparison of commercial essential oils (EO) containing Citrus aurantium, C. limon, Cupressus sempervirens, Eucalyptus globulus, Foeniculum vulgare and Thymus vulgaris showed that  F. vulgare EOs is effective against lipid peroxidation(3). In support of the above, the University of Wyoming suggested that Fennel oils might have higher antioxidant capacity in distillation time (DT) depend-manner. DT can be used to obtain fennel essential oil with differential composition(4).
Some researchers suggested that the potent antioxidant properties of medicinal plants may depend on variety conditions such as environmental conditions, climatic and seasonal variations, geographical regions of growth, degree of ripeness, growing practices, and many other factors such as postharvest treatment and processing(5).

References
(1) Antimycobacterial activity of constituents from Foeniculum vulgare var. dulce grown in Mexico.by Esquivel-Ferriño PC¹, Favela-Hernández JM, Garza-González E, Waksman N, Ríos MY, del Rayo Camacho-Corona M.(PubMed)
(2) Chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of essential oils from organically cultivated fennel cultivars by Shahat AA¹, Ibrahim AY, Hendawy SF, Omer EA, Hammouda FM, Abdel-Rahman FH, Saleh MA.(PubMed)
(3) Anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative activities of Moroccan commercial essential oils by Aazza S, Lyoussi B, Megías C, Cortés-Giraldo I, Vioque J, Figueiredo AC, Miguel MG.(PubMed)(4) Distillation time modifies essential oil yield, composition, and antioxidant capacity of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill) by Zheljazkov VD¹, Horgan T, Astatkie T, Schlegel V.(PubMed)
(5) Antioxidant activity and protecting health effects of common medicinal plants.

Škrovánková S¹, Mišurcová L, Machů L.(PubMed)

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