Sweet, anise-flavored fennel seed together with thyme, nettle, mugwort, etc., has been revered as one of nine Anglo-Saxon sacred herbs for its health benefits. The spice is one of the most sought-after ingredients in many popular cuisines all over the Mediterranean regions.

Fennel is a perennial herb plant belong to parsley or Umbelliferae family, a broad family of herbs and spices, which includes some common members such as caraway, dill, anise, cumin…etc. Scientific name of fennel is Foeniculum vulgare var. dulce.

Fennel is native to Southern Europe and grown extensively all over Europe, Middle-Eastern, China, India, and Turkey. This herbaceous plant reaches up to 2 meters (about 6 feet) in height with deep green feathery (lacy) leaves and bears golden-yellow flowers in umbels. In general, fennel seeds are harvested when the seed heads turn light-brown. The seeds, which resemble to anise seeds in appearance, feature oblong or curved (comma) shape, about 3-4 mm long, light brown-color with fine vertical stripes over their surface.

In general, seeds are harvested during early hours of the day to avoid spilling of seeds on the ground. As in caraway, the cut plants staked until they were dry; then threshed, processed and packed to be sold.

Fennel bulb (Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum), used as a vegetable, is closely related to seeding fennel. It has grown for its anise flavored sweet taste fronds in many parts of Mediterranean region.