Pharmacological and phytochemical analysis of Foeniculum vulgare Mill: A review

Abstract

Background: Medicinal plants always played an important role in the health development of mankind. Foeniculum vulgare is one of the oldest spice plants which, due to its economic importance and significant pharmaceutical industry applications, are considered as one of the world’s most important medicinal plants. Methods: In order to gather the information the keywords Foeniculum vulgare, therapeutic, and pharmacology have been searched until March 31, 2019 from journals accessible in databases such as Science Direct, Scopus, EBSCO, Medline, PubMed, Embase, SID, and Iran Medex. Results: The results showed that this plant has various pharmacological properties including antioxidant, anti-cancer activity, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, anti-bacterial and estrogenic effects which are probably due to the presence of aromatic compounds such as anethole, estragole and fenshon.Conclusion: Foeniculum vulgare possesses various pharmacological properties and play an important role in human health; hence, it might be used for different drug productions.