Key features

• •Star anise contains anethole, the same ingredient that gives the unrelated anise its flavor.
• •Recently, star anise has come into use in the West as a less expensive substitute for anise in baking, as well as in liquor production, most distinctively in the production of the liqueur Galliano.
• •It is used as a spice in preparation of biryani and masala chai all over the Indian subcontinent.
• •Star anise is the major source of the chemical compound shikimic acid, a primary precursor in the pharmaceutical synthesis of anti-influenza drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu).
• •Shikimic acid is produced by most autotrophic organisms, and whilst it can be obtained in commercial quantities elsewhere, star anise remains the usual industrial source.