Foeniculum vulgare, Fennel

Common names

Fenkel, Finkle, Fennel fruit

German = Fenchel, French = Fenouil, Spanish = Hinojo, Italian = Finocchio

History

Medieval uses: Against mental vacancy and against folly.
“The fennel is warm & dry in the 2nd degree & is useful for eye diseases” It is good for every kind of poison in a man’s body. It is useful for tertian ague & inflammatory fever, also for headache if it is cold or due to fever.”
Also good for weak eyes or eye disease
Cures fever, insanity and stomach ailments
The Beatons recommended to increase the flow of urine
Coughing and shortness of breath, pain of the bladder. Against a sudden illness, pain in the loin
For headache, especially headache that 'cometh out of the stomach' mixed with Rosa spp and Chamomilla matricaria equal parts
For inflamed eyes. To strengthen and improve sight. To promote breast milk. Diarrhoea. For bronchitis or dysponea. Fainting of the heart. Pneumonia, nausea. Used for typhus. Swelling in the stomach and haematuria.

Biting of an adder. For choler in the stomach bath in fennel & sage. Use the seed for fever in the stomach. For the falling evil (epilepsy). For itching & the web in the eye (use root). Medicine that helpeth against leprosy.

Medicinal uses

Stomachic, carminative, aromatic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, diuretic, galactagogue (please see Glossary)

Benefits

Flatulent dyspepsia, anorexia, flatulent colic in children; topical eyewash for conjunctivitis and blepharitis; gargle for pharyngitis

Foeniculum is primarily used in the treatment of mild, spasmodic gastrointestinal complaints such as flatulence and colic in children, and indigestion, bloating and heartburn in adults. Both the seeds and the root are appetite stimulants and sooth the digestion. The volatile oil has both carminative and spasmolytic actions, and has been shown to increase liver regeneration experimentally.

Foeniculum is a useful remedy for upper respiratory catarrh and has a calming effect on bronchitis and coughs. It is also diuretic, and is used to treat urinary calculi. The volatile oil is bactericidal and anti-fungal, and has been shown to be effective in vitro against Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. It is also slightly oestrogenic, and is a well-known means of promoting the flow of breast milk.

Externally, the oil relieves muscular and rheumatic pains, and the infusion may be used in a compress to treat conjunctivitis and blepharitis. The seeds have a traditional reputation as an aid to weight loss and longevity

Other uses

Fennel is used as a flavouring in drinks and sweets and has been used as a vegetable and medicine since ancient times. Pliny recommended Fennel for ‘dimness of vision’, while Gerard wrote ‘Fennel seede drunke assuageth the paine of the stomache, and the wambling of the same, or desire to vomite, and breaketh winde’. It was believed to have magical powers in the Middle Ages and was hung over doors to keep out witches. It was also considered to be a remedy for snakebite. In the past, the poor ate Fennel to satisfy hunger pangs on fast days and to make unsavoury food palatable. Fennel sprigs used to be placed in horses’ harnesses to keep flies away. Chinese medicine prescribes fennel for food poisoning, hernias, abdominal pain and indigestion.

Warnings

No contraindications or interactions with other drugs are known. Diabetics should be aware of the sugar content of fennel syrup

References

Bartram, T. 1995 Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine, 1st edn.,Grace Publishers, Bournemouth.

Bremness, L. 1994 Herbs, Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Handbook, London.

BHMA 1983 British Herbal Pharmacopoeia, BHMA, Bournemouth.

Chevallier, A. 1996 The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants, Dorling Kindersley, London.

Grieve, M. 1931 A Modern Herbal, (ed. C.F. Leyel 1985), London.

Hoffmann, D. 1990 The New Holistic Herbal, Second Edition, Element, Shaftesbury.

Hyperhealth 1996 Natural Health and Nutrition Databank, v.96.1 CD-ROM, ©In-Tele-Health, available from Healthworks, Leeds. ISBN 0-646-30942-0

Lust, J. 1990 The Herb Book, Bantam, London.

Mabey, R. (ed.) 1991 The Complete New Herbal, Penguin, London.

Mills, S.Y. 1993 The Essential Book of Herbal Medicine, Penguin, London (First published in 1991 as Out of the Earth, Arkana)

Mills, S.Y. 1993 The A-Z of Modern Herbalism, Diamond Books, London.

Ody, P. 1993 The Herb Society's Complete Medicinal Herbal, Dorling Kindersley, London.

Polunin, M. and Robbins, C. 1992 The Natural Pharmacy, Dorling Kindersley, London.

Vickery, R. 1995 A Dictionary of Plant Lore, Oxford University Press.

Weiss, R.F. 1991 Herbal Medicine, Beaconsfield Arcanum, Beaconsfield.

Wren, R.C. 1988 Potter's New Cyclopaedia of Botanical Drugs and Preparations, C.W.Daniel, Saffron Walden.

Special thanks to www.purplesage.org.uk