**4. Fennel**

Fennel (seeds of *Foeniculum vulgare* Mill), originally cultivated in Mediterranean region, is used throughout the world for its licorice-like flavor. Belonging to class Magnoliopsida and family Apiaceae, fennel is known by different names such as suanf, sweet fennel, florence fennel, finocchio and is a concentrated source of minerals. This perennial herb is long loved for its culinary use. The essential oil of fennel constitutes anethole, estragole as major components and limonene, fenchone and others as minor components (**Figure 3**) [78, 79].

Fennel has been used for a long time for medicinal purposes (**Figure 3**) [80, 81]. It is a potent antioxidant agent. Essential oil of fennel seeds (FS) showed 45.05% DPPH radical scavenging activity along with 48.80–70.35% inhibition of peroxidation [81]. Ethanol and water extracts of FS (100 μg/ml) inhibited peroxidation in linoleic acid system by 77.5 and 99.1% respectively [82]. Parejo et al., isolated phenolic compounds from fennel viz. rosmarinic acid, kaempferol-3- O-glucoside, eriodictyol-7-Orutinoside, caffeoylquinic acid, quercetin-3-O-galactoside and observed decrease in absorbance of DPPH by 50% (IC50 in μg/mL = 1.17, 8.21, 24.78, 3.82, 7.52 respectively) [83].

Further, essential oil from fennel fruit showed inhibitory effects on growth of *Paenibacillus* larvae (MIC = 250 μg/ml) [84] and mycelial growth of *S. sclerotiorum*

(MIC = 0.2 μg/ml) [85]. Similar inhibitory effects were observed against *C. quinquefasciatus* (LC50 = 70.85); *A. gambiae* (LC50 = 44.74) [86] and larvae of *C. pipiens* (90% inhibition at 60 mg/L) [87]. Hexane extracts of FS showed potent inhibitory effects against *E. coli* (MIC = 12.5 μg/mL), *S. typhi* (MIC =15 μg/mL), *S. aureus* (MIC = 10 μg/mL) [88].

Recent study reported that 300 μg/μl FS ethanolic extract inhibited Influenza virus H5N1 by 82.8% [89]. Moreover, Alazadeh et al., showed that oral administration of FS extract in capsular form ameliorated knee ostroarthritis [90]. In addition, methanol extract of FS showed significant anticancer potential against liver cancer cell line Hepg-2 (IC50 = 27.96 μg/mL) and breast cancer cell line MCF-7 (IC50 = 15.78 μg/mL) [80]. Özbek et al., 2003 studied hepatoprotective effects of fennel and observed that a dose of 0.4 ml/kg of fennel oil showed significant protective role against liver fibrosis (CCl4 induced) in rats [91].

It is safe to consume fennel and since it provides protection against flu, cough, it is advised to take fennel with warm milk.
