🌶️ Spices

FOENICULUM VULGARE Foeniculum vulgare

Key Properties

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🌶️ Name in WCVP and sources 🌶️ Shahat: cultivation 🌶️ Shahat: obtaining the oil 🌶️ Shahat: analysis 🌶️ Shahat: Table 1 🌶️ Mina: plots and treatments 🌶️ Mina: oil and yield 🌶️ Mina: fruit volatiles 🌶️ ISO: seed standard 🌶️ References
Introduction
Foeniculum vulgare Mill.

Species

BinomialFoeniculum vulgare
Accepted nameFoeniculum vulgare Mill.
POWO statusaccepted
FamilyApiaceae
IPNI identifierurn:lsid:ipni.org:names:842680-1

Source: Govaerts R. (ed.), World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, accessed on 21/09/2026.

According to the World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP, Kew), in the extract read on 21 September 2026, Foeniculum vulgare Mill. is a name of rank “Species” with the status “Accepted”, placed in the family Apiaceae. According to Shahat et al. (2011), the essential oils of the fruits of three organically grown cultivars of Egyptian fennel, named “Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum”, “Foeniculum vulgare var. dulce” and “Foeniculum vulgare var. vulgare”, were examined for their chemical constituents. According to Mina et al. (2024), 100 g of fresh fruits from each plot of their trial were hydrodistilled in a Clevenger-type apparatus to calculate the oil yield.

Each study is described below with its own organ, process and sample; their figures are not averaged or set against each other.

Which name is accepted, and how do the sources write it?

The WCVP record of Foeniculum vulgare Mill. carries the identifier 2813604. Shahat et al. (2011) name their three cultivars “Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum”, “Foeniculum vulgare var. dulce” and “Foeniculum vulgare var. vulgare”. According to Mina et al. (2024), the fruits studied, named “Foeniculum vulgare, Miller, var. dulce”, of the family Apiaceae, were botanically identified and authenticated by the head of the Flora Research and Plant Classification Department of the Agricultural Research Centre. A voucher specimen numbered “2Fvu2/2017” was deposited in the herbarium of the Pharmacognosy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Helwan University.

How were the fruits studied by Shahat et al. (2011) grown and harvested?

According to Shahat et al. (2011), the soil for the three cultivars was prepared on 5 October 2008 by adding 20 m3 of compost, 200 kg of “rock phosphate” and 100 kg of “feldspar”. The seeds were sown by hand on 23 October 2008, in lines carrying two drip-irrigation lines, with 30 cm between the two hoses. Four m3 of compost per feddan (4,200 m2) were added as organic fertilizer, and the same fertilizer was added at the rate of 4 m3 per feddan during the third weeding. The first flowering took place on 2 February 2009, and the harvest was done by hand on 23 May 2009, in the morning, which the authors explain as being “to avoid fruits escaping”. The harvest was then moved to a clean drying location in the shade for seven to ten days, for the separation of the fruits. The productivity per feddan was 800 kg of fruits for the azoricum and dulce cultivars.

How was the oil of Shahat et al. (2011) obtained?

According to Shahat et al. (2011), fennel fruits were dried at 35 °C in a drying cabinet, then crushed to powder. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation of the powdered dry fruits “according to the British Pharmacopeia Protocol”. The oil phase was separated, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and kept in a dark glass bottle at 4 °C until the analyses.

How was the oil of Shahat et al. (2011) analysed?

The GC/MS analysis of the essential oil was carried out with an HP5890 Series II gas chromatograph, an HP 5972 mass selective detector and an Agilent 6890 Series autosampler. A Supelco MDN-5S capillary column, 30 m × 0.25 mm, with a 0.5 μm film, was used, with helium as carrier gas at 1.0 mL/min. The oven was programmed at 40 °C for 5 minutes, then heated to 140 °C at 5 °C/min and held for 5 min, then heated to 280 °C at 9 °C/min and held for five more minutes. The injector and detector were at 250 °C, and mass spectrometry was run in electron impact mode (EI) at 70 eV. The constituents were identified by their retention times, their retention indices and the interpretation of their mass spectra, confirmed by a search of the NIST mass spectral database “with those of authentic samples or published data”; the retention indices were calculated using a homologous series of C8-C20 n-alkanes.

What does Table 1 of Shahat et al. (2011) give in its “dulce” column?

For the essential oil of the fruits of the cultivar named “Foeniculum vulgare var. dulce”, organically grown in Egypt and harvested on 23 May 2009, Table 1 of Shahat et al. (2011), “Chemical composition of the essential oils of fennel cultivars”, gives the following values in its “dulce” column; no unit is written in the table or in its legend.

Compound (as written in Table 1)Value, “dulce” column (no unit given)
“α-Pinene”3.26
“Camphene”0.30
“Sabinene”0.27
“β-Pinene”0.14
“Myrcene”0.66
“α-Phellandrene”0.18
“o-Cymene”0.38
“Limonene”27.78
“γ-Terpinene”0.06
“Fenchone”12.77
“Linalool”0.09
“Camphor”0.18
“Fenchyl acetate”0.06
“Cumic aldehyde”0.06
“p-Anisaldehyde”0.11

How were the plots of Mina et al. (2024) laid out and treated?

According to Mina et al. (2024), the land to be cultivated was divided into five plots of 15 m2, each divided into seven rows, and the fennel fruits were sown at five fruits per hole, 40 cm apart. Germination was “practically” completed 12 days after sowing for all conditions except the control, where it was completed after one month. In Table 1 (“Summary of the four applied soil treatments before and after sowing fennel fruits”), the control plot (“Control”) received no treatment before sowing, after 45 days or after 75 days, and was irrigated every 15 days. In the trial design of Table 1, condition 1 received chicken manure (1 kg/m2) before sowing, ethephon (240 ppm), and irrigation every 15 days. Condition 2 received “Ca (H2PO4)2” (250 g) before sowing, “(NH4)2SO4” (720 g) and ethephon (240 ppm), and irrigation every 15 days. Condition 3 received chicken manure (1 kg/m2) before sowing, ethephon (240 ppm), and irrigation every 15 days for the first 4 months, then every 45 days. Condition 4 received “Ca (H2PO4)2” (250 g) before sowing, “(NH4)2SO4” (720 g) and ethephon (240 ppm), and irrigation every 15 days for the first 4 months, then every 45 days.

How was the oil of Mina et al. (2024) obtained, and how did its yield vary between conditions?

According to Mina et al. (2024), to calculate the yield, 100 g of fresh fruits from each plot were extracted in a Clevenger-type hydrodistillation apparatus: the plant material, immersed in one litre of water in a round flask, was heated with a heating mantle for three hours, with the extraction temperature set at 100 °C. The resulting oils were collected, dried over anhydrous sodium sulphate and stored in a refrigerator until analysis. The authors write that the fruit oil yield “was significantly affected” by foliar spraying of ethephon and drought stress, and report a relative increase in total oil yield of “About 94.7% and 91.18%” in conditions 3 and 4 respectively, compared with the control. In Table 1, conditions 3 and 4 both received ethephon (240 ppm) and irrigation every 15 days for the first 4 months, then every 45 days.

How were the volatiles of the fresh fruits sampled by Mina et al. (2024)?

According to Mina et al. (2024), the fresh fruits of each condition were separated from the rest of the plant and subjected to headspace extraction followed by GC-MS analysis, at an incubation temperature of 130 °C for 120 min, a syringe temperature of 140 °C and an agitation of 250 rpm.

Which ISO standard on the seed (spice) does the ISO catalogue list?

According to the ISO catalogue for ICS class 67.220.10, the standard ISO 7927-2:2023, part 2 of a standard titled “Spices and condiments — Fennel seed, whole or ground”, falls under ISO/TC 34/SC 7 and is at stage “60.60”.

References