Fennel
1、       This product is the dried and mature fruit of Foeniculum vulgare mill., an Umbelliferae plant. In autumn, when the fruit is first ripe, the plants are harvested, dried in the sun, and the fruit is laid to remove impurities.
      [character] this product is a double hanging fruit, cylindrical in shape, some slightly curved, 4-8mm long, 1.5-2.5mm in diameter. The surface is yellowish green or light yellow, with slightly pointed ends. There are yellowish brown raised stigmas at the top, and sometimes small fruit stalks at the base. The fruit is oblong, with 5 longitudinal edges on the back, and the joint surface is flat and wide. The transverse section is slightly pentagonal, and the four sides on the back are approximately equal in length. It has a special aroma, slightly sweet and pungent.
      [identification] (1) cross section of the fruit: the exocarp is a row of flat cells covered with cuticle. ; There are 1 large oval brown oil pipe between the longitudinal edges on the back, and 2 oil pipes on the joint surface, a total of 6. The endocarp is a row of flat parenchyma cells with different lengths. Seed coat cells are oblate and long, containing brown matter. Endosperm cells are polygonal, containing most aleurone grains, and each aleurone grain contains fine calcium oxalate clusters.
      (2) Take 2G of this product powder, add 20ml of acetic acid, sonicate for 10 minutes, filter, volatilize the filtrate, add 1ml of trichloromethane to dissolve the residue as the test solution. In addition, take anisaldehyde reference substance and add ethanol to make a solution containing 1 μ l per 1ml as the reference substance solution. . In the chromatogram of the test sample, the same orange red spots appear at the positions corresponding to the chromatogram of the control sample.
      [inspection] impurities shall not exceed 4% (general rule 2301).
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      The volatile oil content of this product shall not be less than 1.5% (ml/g).
      Trans anethole was determined by gas chromatography (general rule 0521).
      Chromatographic conditions and system suitability test polyethylene glycol capillary column (column length: 30m, inner diameter: 0.32mm, membrane thickness: 0.25 μ m); The column temperature was 145 ℃. The number of theoretical plates shall not be less than 5000 based on the peak of trans anethole.
      Preparation of reference solution take an appropriate amount of trans anethole reference, weigh accurately, and add ethyl acetate to make a solution containing 0.4mg per 1ml.
      Preparation of test solution take about 0.5g of the powder (passing through No. 3 screen), weigh accurately, add 25ml of ethyl acetate precisely, weigh, sonicate (power 300W, frequency 40KHz) for 30 minutes, cool, weigh again, make up the lost weight with ethyl acetate, shake well, filter, and take the filtrate.
      The determination method is to precisely suck 2 μ l each of the reference solution and the test solution, inject them into the gas chromatograph, and determine.
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      Decoction pieces
      [processing] fennel is used to remove impurities.
      [character], [identification], [inspection] (total ash) [content determination] is the same as that of medicinal materials.
      Remove the salt fennel, stir fry the fennel in brine (general rule 0213) until it is yellowish.
      . It tastes slightly salty.
      [inspection] the total ash content is the same as that of medicinal materials, and shall not exceed 12.0%.
      [content determination] the content of trans anethole (C10H12O) in the same medicinal material shall not be less than 1.3%.
      [identification] the same as medicinal materials.
      [nature, taste and meridian tropism] pungent, warm. It belongs to liver, kidney, spleen and stomach meridian.
      [functions and indications] dispel cold and relieve pain, regulate qi and stomach. It is used for cold hernia, abdominal pain, testicular deviation, dysmenorrhea, less abdominal cold pain, abdominal distension and pain, less vomiting and diarrhea. Salt fennel warms the kidney, dispels cold and relieves pain. It is used for cold hernia, abdominal pain, testicular deviation, and cold abdominal pain.
      [usage and dosage] 3 ～ 6G.
      [storage] store in a cool and dry place.


2、 Chemical constituents of fennel
The composition of the volatile oil in the fruit is very complex. The main component is trans anethole (63.4%), followed by limonene (13.1%), fenchone (l2.1%), others are estragole4.7%, γ - Terpinene (2.7%), α - pinene (1.9%), myrcene (0.7%), β - pinene (0.4%),camphor(camphor0.2％)， Camphene (0.1%), methoxyphenyl acetone (0.1%), and trace amounts of sabinene, α - phellandrene, p-cymene,Cineole(1，8-cineole)，α - terpineol(α-terpineol)， Trans fencho acetate, anisaldehyde, etc. Sixteen fatty acids identified in the fruit fatty oil are: 10 þ octadecenoic acid (38.0%), arachic acid (31.4%),palmitic acid(plmitic acid 21.2％)， Behenic acid (2.8%),Myristic acid(myristic acid 2.2％)， Stearic acid 2,2%, lauric acid 0.2%, pentadecanofc acid 0.2%, and henicosanic acid 0.2%. The fruit also containsStigmasterol(stigmasterol)， Umbelliferone, produced bypalmitic acid, arachidic acid, kaempferic acid and higher alcohols with more than 18 carbons,β - sitosterol(β-sitosierol)，Zanthoxylin(xanthotoxin)，α - geraniol(α-amyrin)Imperatorin(imperatorin)， Bergapten andIsopurple peucedanone(marmesin)。

3、 Pharmacological effects of fennel
1. effect on digestive system: 1.1. effect on gastrointestinal motility: Fennel can promote intestinal peristalsis in rabbits in vivo. Anethole 2.5 × 10 (-5) g/ml had excitatory effect on the isolated intestinal tract of mice, and the relaxation effect appeared when the concentration increased, and the relaxed intestinal tract also did not respond to acetylcholine. The volatile oil of Foeniculum vulgare has an excitatory effect on the isolated mouse intestine at the initial stage, and then relaxes it. The relaxation effect is about 25% of papaverine, 28% of anethole, 3% of anisone, 4% of anisaldehyde, 2% of limonene, and 1% of eucalyptol. . The acetone extract of Foeniculum vulgare has excitatory effect on isolated quail rectum. The effective component is anethole, and the contraction reaction is histamine like. The water filled micro balloon was implanted into the sphincter of pylorus in rabbits, and the changes of balloon internal pressure were recorded to observe the gastric movement. In the state of inhibiting gastric movement by intravenous injection of sodium pentobarbital, 24mg/kg of Foeniculum vulgare orally could make the gastric movement recover significantly, especially at 30 and 35 minutes after administration, there was a very significant difference compared with the control group.
1.2. anti ulcer effect: cumin 600mg/kg duodenally or orally inhibits gastric secretion of rats by about 38.9%, Shay ulcer by 34.9%, and stress ulcer by 33.8%. However, fennel powder had no significant effect on aspirin induced ulcers or stress ulcers in rats.
1.3. choleretic effect: xiaoyinxiang has choleretic effect, which can promote bile secretion and increase the solid composition of bile.
2. effect on trachea: Fennel volatile oil has a relaxing effect on guinea pig tracheal smooth muscle. Dissolving the volatile oil in 12% ethanol and giving it to anesthetized guinea pigs by gavage can increase the secretion of intratracheal fluid, and cutting off the gastric nerve has no effect. It is believed that this effect is not caused by gastric reaction.
3. effect on liver: in rats with partial liver extirpation and given fennel volatile oil for 10 days, the regeneration of liver tissue increased, and the weight of liver increased compared with the control group.
; Female rats treated with acetone extract for 10 days showed vaginal keratinization and sexual cycle promotion, and the weight of mammary gland, fallopian tube, endometrium and myometrium increased, suggesting that cumin has estrogen like effects. It is also reported that the effective ingredient is anethole and its polymers such as dimeric anethole.
5. other effects: Fennel volatile oil and anethole have central paralytic effect on frogs. They are slightly excited about frog myocardium at first, and then cause paralysis. It is curare like paralysis to the nerve and muscle, and the excitability of the muscle itself is weakened. The plant polysaccharide extracted from fennel has anti-tumor effect. .