Star Anise Properties

Healing Properties of

Star Anise

My previous post was a recipe for a Pork Roast with Spices. I mentioned that the star anise sent me on a hunt for the spice. I checked every grocery store in my area of San Diego. No one carried that "exotic" spice as I was told.

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For my birthday I received a book from my dear neighbor Ruth, "Cooking With Herbs and Spices". I was curious what the book had to say about the star anise after learning the harvest was exhausted in 2009 by the Pharmaceutical Companies in compounding the Swine Flu vaccine, Tamiflu. Most surprising is that a tree is six years old before it begins to bear the fruit. The fruit is picked before it is fully ripe as each petal contains a seed which is also ground and used as spice.

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I thought you might be interested to learn that star anise is beneficial in the treatment of halitosis and is also used in cough medications and pet foods. Star anise is the most important spice and dominant flavor in Chinese five spice powder.

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Tomorrow I will blog about the many benefits of ginger. My Trader Joe's store carried a candied ginger prior to the Christmas holiday that did not contain all of the sugar coating that is usually found in candied ginger.