Its modern therapeutic uses in Germany and the United States stem from traditional Greek medicine as practiced by Hippocrates and later by Dioscorides. It is still widely used in traditional Arabian medicine as a diuretic, appetizer, and digestive.
Fennel's therapeutic uses have been introduced and integrated into many other systems of traditional medicine, including Ayurvedic, Chinese, and Japanese Kampo. For example, the present Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia recommends it in dried fruit or fluidextract form, for flatulent dyspepsia, anorexia, and flatulent colic in children. Its indications for use in the present Chinese pharmacopoeia include for distending pain in the epigastrium with anorexia, dysmenorrhea with lower abdominal pain and cold sensation, vomiting, and diarrhea.
The modern therapeutic applications for fennel seed and oil are supportable based on their history of use in well-established systems of traditional medicine, phytochemical investigations, and in vitro and in vivo studies in animals.
In Germany, fennel seed is licensed as a standard medicinal tea for dyspepsia. It is also used in cough syrups and honeys (antitussives and expectorants), and stomach and bowel remedies, especially in pediatrics, as aqueous infusion, water (Aqua Foeniculi), drag (lozenge), juice, and syrup. It is often used in combination with aniseed (Leung and Foster, 1996; Wichtl and Bisset, 1994). In the United States, it is also used as a component of galactagogue preparations. Indications for use of fennel oil are similar to those for fennel seed. In Germany and the United States, fennel oil is used as an expectorant component of cough remedies, and also as a carminative component of stomach and bowel remedies in dosage forms including honey and syrup. Traditionally, it is combined with laxative or purgative herbs to counteract or modify their harsh griping effects in the bowels. The Commission E limits the use of fennel seed and fennel oil for up to two weeks and then recommends consulting a physician.
