Official name: Fennel

Latin name: Foeniculum vulgare L.

Other names: wild fennel, fennel, field, “morach”, false fenugreek,

Description: Foeniculum is an annual or perennial herbaceous plant of the Umbelliferae family (Apiaceae) with a strong pleasant aroma. Annual plants have a long, slightly branched root, and the stem reaches up to 1 m. in height. Fennel perennials have a highly developed oval thick tuber with fleshy leaves wrapping around it. In adult plants, several one-year stems emerge from the root, which reach a height of 2 m. The stems are upright, round, bare, hollow inside, blue-green. The flowers are yellow, collected in complex inflorescences. The fruit is two-seeded, almost cylindrical, grey-green, glabrous. It blooms in summer from July to September, and the fruits ripen in autumn. The plant has a strong, pleasant smell. In Bulgaria, the slice is usually cultivated in the vineyards.

Part of the herb used: the fruits/seeds (Fructus Foeniculi).

Harvest time: fennel fruits/seeds are harvested in July - September when they start to turn yellow. The entire aerial part of the medicinal plant or the canopies are harvested early in the morning or in the evening. The fruits ripen unevenly, so they are harvested in two stages, when 50% of them ripen. During waxy maturity, the seeds contain the most essential oil.

Chemical composition/Content and properties: The fruits of foeniculum contain up to 5% essential oil (Oleum Foeniculi) with 60-80% anethole, about 18% ordinary oil, vitamins (B3, C, A), proteins, coumarin, potassium, phosphorus, selenium, magnesium, sodium, etc. Fennel has antispasmodic, mucolytic, anthelmintic, antiseptic and antimicrobial effects, largely due to the high content of anethole in the essential oil.

Medicinal action and application: The plant helps with colitis, flatulence and stimulates digestion. Fennel alleviates disease conditions in bronchitis and cough, cleanses the liver and blood. The medicinal plant increases milk in nursing mothers and relieves colic pain in newborns. Externally, fennel oil relieves muscular and rheumatic pains. Aqueous extracts of foeniculum are used to wash the eyes or as a compress for conjunctivitis and inflammation of the edge of the eyelids. Due to its specific pleasant aroma, the seeds of the plant are used as a spice in cooking, for the production of mastic and liqueurs, in the perfumery industry.

Possibilities to offer at the customer's request:

Vesselino Ltd. offers their customers the plant in the following varieties:

• fruits/seeds (Fructus Foeniculi) - dried whole, crushed, cut to a certain size at the customer's request, ground into herbal powder/flour