116 FRUITS 



Constituents. Cummin fruits yield from 3 to 4 per cent, of 

 volatile oil (sp. gr. 0'972 ; O.K. + 25*5 ; chief constituent cuminic 

 aldehyde) . 



Uses. The fruits have been used as a stimulant and carminative ; 

 they are now chiefly employed in veterinary medicine. 



Persian cummin is probably derived from a species of Carum ; fruits smaller 

 than cummin or caraway fruits ; odour similar to cummin ; oil contains no 

 carvone. 



FENNEL FRUITS 



(Fructus Foeniculi) 



Source, &C. Fennel, Fceniculum capilldceum, Gilibert (F. vulgare, 

 Miller; N.O. Umbelliferce), is apparently indigenous to the shores 

 of the Mediterranean, extending eastwards, but is cultivated for 

 medicinal use in the south of France, in Saxony and Wurternberg, 

 in Russia and Galicia, and also in India, Japan, &c. Like other 

 aromatic Umbelliferous fruits, fennel was well known to the ancients, 

 and was largely used in Europe during the Middle Ages. For medicinal 

 use Saxon, Russian, Galician, or Roumanian fruits are to be preferred, 

 as it has been shown that they yield most volatile oil, and that the 

 latter contains fenchone (see below). 



Description. Fennel fruits occur in several commercial varieties, 

 varying considerably in size and appearance. Saxon fruits, which 

 may be regarded as the best, are of a greenish or yellowish brown 

 colour, and oblong in shape, varying from 8 to 10 mm. in length, and 

 3 to 4 mm. in width. The mericarps frequently remain united and 

 attached to a pedicel. They are glabrous, and bear five paler, very 

 prominent, primary ridges. In a transverse section four large vittae 

 can be distinguished by the naked eye on the dorsal surface, and two 

 on the commissural surface of each mericarp ; the endosperm is dark 

 in colour, oily, and not deeply grooved. They have an aromatic 

 odour, recalling anise, and a sweet, camphoraceous taste. 



The student should observe 



(a) The very prominent ridges, 



(b) The large vittce, 



(c) The characteristic odour and taste. 



Constituents. The best varieties of fennel (Saxon, Galician, and 

 Russian) yield from 4 to 5 per cent, of volatile oil (sp. gr. 0-960 

 to 0-980 ; O.R. + 6 to -f 12 ; solidifying-point 5 to 20), the 

 principal constituents of which are anethol (C 10 H 12 0, 50 to 60 per 

 cent.) and fenchone (C 10 H 16 O, 18 to 20 per cent.). 



Anethol is also the chief constituent of anise oil (compare p. 121). 



