Star Anise, by any other name, would be Ba Jiao Hui Xiang, and smell just as sweet.

Star Anise.

That which gives pho its delightful aromatic broth ain’t just another spice to have in the spice rack. (Although to be clear, you SHOULD, because it’s delicious.) It’s also a good source of shikimic acid, which is one of the main ingredients in Tamiflu and has been a useful tool against avian flu.

Long used as an antiviral in traditional medicines, Chinese Star Anise (Illicium verum) has shown enough promise to those in the western medical world too, that it’s a top ingredient in Tamiflu (yes, yes, as stated above.) It’s a warm and pungent herb, good for easing upper respiratory ailments and sensations of cold in the middle, but chills all over too. It has a pleasant licorice flavor and a wonderful aroma coming from its numerous volatile compounds, “seco-prezizaane-type sesquiterpenes, phenylpropanoids, lignans, flavonoids and other constituents”.. Modern pharmacology studies demonstrated that its crude extracts and active compounds possess wide pharmacological actions, especially in antimicrobial, antioxidant, insecticidal, analgesic, sedative and convulsive activities” (Wang, Hu, Huang, & Qin, 2011).

What do I DO with it?

There are so many choices! But ultimately, because you want to get a full dosage of the herb, hot water extraction is best. And that means it’s time to make some tea or soup! “Extraction recoveries of shikimic acid close to 97% can be obtained with water at 70 °C using slightly longer extraction times (ca. 10 min) than those at 120 °C” (Ohira et al, 2009). So chai or pho should be on your list of quarantine meals. Martha Stewart has a recipe for baked Asian Pears with Star Anise that would also nourish the lungs (thanks to the wet qualities of the asian pear). Chicken soup with Star Anise? Yes please.

However, shikimic acid alone isn’t really enough. Data shows that quercetin is required to fully synthesize shikimic acid. “The SK-QT combination also proved to be effective in the upregulation of IL-6 (3.08 +/- 0.46, SK-QT 10 nM; 3.60 +/- 0.74 SK-QT 100 nM, P < 0.05 vs. baseline 1.00 +/- 0.26). According to these findings SK alone is not able to modulate innate immunity in antiviral terms. However, the data show that the SK + QT combination, even at low doses, may be effective for the modulation of innate immunity” (Nishimuro et al, 2015).

What foods have quercetin in them? Tea. Black or green doesn’t matter. Green and decaffeinated black has slightly higher amounts than just black, brewed tea (http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.195.6410&rep=rep1&type=pdf). According to Integrative Therapeutics, a trusted supplement supplier, other sources of quercetin include black grapes, red raspberry, nectarine, broccoli, red onion, and red wine.

Chai recipe can be found: HERE, recipe by Sommer Collier, A Spicy Perspective.

Pho recipe: HERE. Thanks to Meghan Splawn, @ TheKitchn!

REFERENCES:

Bertelli, A., Mannari, C., Santi, S., Filippi, C., Migliori, M., & Giovannini, L. (2008). Immunomodulatory activity of shikimic acid and quercitin in comparison with oseltamivir (Tamiflu) in an “in vitro” model. Journal of Medical Virology, 80(4), 741–745. doi: 10.1002/jmv.21072

Bramen, L. (2011, October 19). What the Heck Do I Do with Star Anise? Retrieved March 20, 2020, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/what-the-heck-do-i-do-with-star-anise-111444755/

Nishimuro, H., Ohnishi, H., Sato, M., Ohnishi-Kameyama, M., Matsunaga, I., Naito, S., … Kobori, M. (2015). Estimated Daily Intake and Seasonal Food Sources of Quercetin in Japan. Nutrients, 7(4), 2345–2358. doi: 10.3390/nu7042345

Ohira, H., Torii, N., Aida, T. M., Watanabe, M., & Smith, R. L. (2009). Rapid separation of shikimic acid from Chinese star anise (Illicium verum Hook. f.) with hot water extraction. Separation and Purification Technology, 69(1), 102–108. doi: 10.1016/j.seppur.2009.07.005

Star Anise. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2020, from https://www.meandqi.com/herb-database/star-anise#source1

Wang, G.-W., Hu, W.-T., Huang, B.-K., & Qin, L.-P. (2011). Illicium verum: A review on its botany, traditional use, chemistry and pharmacology. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 136(1), 10–20. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2011.04.051