18 Oct 2008
Chinese Star Anise (Illicium Verum floridanum)
Star anise is a spice that is often dried and is an eight pointed star shape. You can usually buy it in most supermarkets or can be found at Chinese stores. Similar to Liquorice in taste, you may even recognise the taste from some liquors such as Galliano, Sambucca and Absinthe.
Traditionally Chinese Star Anise has been used as a tea to help sooth colic in infants or for digestive symptoms and even rheumatism. Star Anise is a warming spice and has had a very sort after medicinal value due to it’s Shikimic acid. Shikimic acid is the main constituent in the avian Bird Flu (H5N1) drug called Tamiflu which is manufactured by a Swiss Drug Company called Roche. Back in 2005 there was a shortage of Chinese star anise due to Roche using 90% of the harvest but now they have formulated a synthetic version especially since it takes one whole year to extract the Shikimic acid from the natural Chinese Star Anise.
The star anise we use for cooking must be the Chinese Star Anise (Illicium Verum floridanum) as opposed to the Japanese Star Anise ( Illicium anisatum),
which must not be used as it is a neuro-toxin so highly toxic. There have been reports of illnesses due to inflammation of the kidneys and urinary system when consumed. Japanese Star anise is native to Japan and is often used in incense, called Shikimi.
The FDA (Food & Drugs Administration of USA) wrote a report in 1993 highly recommending not to give Star anise tea to infants purely because there were certain teas that were found to have been adulterated with the Japanese Star Anise instead as well as the traditional Chinese Star anise. There is no way to differentiate the two from just looking at them when in their dried form as they look very similar being from the same species. The only method to distinguish the toxic spice from the safe spice is via specialized laboratory investigations such as fluorescent microscopy and gas chromatography.
I give you this information, purely as a safety measure and to just be precautious of where you buy your star anise especially IF you consume more than moderate amounts in a prepared tea form. Just check with your grocer that it is the Chinese Star Anise.
© Amina Eastham-Hillier (B H.Sc)
References can be emailed out upon request : naturopathy@angelmothers.com
Amina Eastham-Hillier (B H Sc)
| 
