Badyan: useful properties and methods of application

Badyan (its useful properties have been noticed for a long time) is widely used in pharmaceutics and cooking. This spice is known to many under various names: ship, Indian, Chinese or Siberian anise.

Characteristics of the plant

Usually, the seeds of this plant are used. They have a very specific smell and a rich taste. During the harvest, only immature fruits are ripped off, which after drying become brownish-red.
The fruits of star anise are rich in essential oil, saturated with anethole, due to which it possesses an antispasmodic property and the ability to release the intestines from gases.

Many people confuse baden with anise, this similarity is associated with similar taste qualities and the presence of anethole in the composition.

The use of this spice is due to a unique composition, it has exceptional useful qualities for the body. Brilliant seeds of star anise contain: fatty oils, gum, terpenes, sugars, tannins , mineral salts, tannins, malic acid and much more.

As a result of dry distillation from the seeds, an essential oil is obtained, saturated with a pleasant aroma and sweet taste. Its main component is anethole.

Cultivation of badjan

Growing badjan at home is not possible, so its cultivation on an industrial scale occurs in Vietnam, Japan, India, the Philippines and Jamaica, as well as in Cambodia and Abkhazia. Fruits on young trees appear already in the fifth year of their growth, however their collection can be carried out only in 10-15 years. The tree fructifies throughout life. Flowers, of which the spice itself later grows, have a light yellow or pale green color. When they fall, in their place are formed the copulation, resembling multifilar asterisks. Inside the ripened fruits of badjan, seeds are formed, which are used as a flavoring seasoning.

Application of badin as a culinary ingredient

Earlier in Russia it was added to popular delicacies - mushrooms, pretzels, gingerbread. Dried ground seeds produce an odor similar to anise, hence the second name - anis stellate.

The aroma of the plant is very rich and endowed with a sweetish taste with a certain ostrinkoy. Most often, buckwheat is used for baking confectionery. Freshly ground it is added to the dough at the initial stage before baking. The peculiarity of the overseas seasoning is its ability to saturate the product with a fragrance that is stored in the finished product for a long time.

What is it combined with and where can it be added?

Also seeds of badjan are suitable for making mousses, kissels, compotes, fruit desserts from quince, plums, pears, gooseberries, apples. It perfectly aromatizes and does not allow the sugar to be cooked for several years.

It can be used in combination with many spices - fennel, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, which perfectly complement the taste of meat dishes from beef, pork and poultry.

The most widely used plant in the eastern kitchen, they season sauces and gravies for rice and vegetable dishes.

In European countries, especially in France, also use badon, whose useful properties are used for the aromatization of alcoholic beverages - liquors, tinctures and vodka. In rare cases, however, the stellate anise is used to prepare fish dishes. Similar dishes are prepared mainly in Japan, China, Burma, Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Badyan: useful properties in medicine

Star anise is a very versatile plant, it is suitable both for food and for medicinal purposes. Its medicinal properties are used in folk and traditional medicine.

First, it has a general strengthening effect on the body, removes inflammation and spasms.

Secondly, it helps with reduced appetite, headaches, plague, malaria, epilepsy, fever, and the root of the root is used as an anthelmintic.

Also, the cosmetological properties of badjan have a tonic effect on the skin, give it elasticity and elasticity.

Used in food in the form of powder, infusion, it helps to prevent oxidative processes and the growth of cholesterol plaques in the arteries.

What else is good with a badass? Its useful properties help with problems with the digestive tract. Medicines made from its fruits stimulate digestive processes in the body, relieve intestinal spasms and promote the normalization of intestinal motility.

Contraindications for use

• The seed oil of the plant is contraindicated in pregnant women, infants, and with individual intolerance.
• Too much badjan, used in food or as a medicine, can overexcite the nervous system.
• Applying oil directly to the skin can cause burns.
• Excess of the permissible norm of drugs Badian can turn into nausea, vomiting and pulmonary edema.

Features to be aware of

• The properties of spices are preserved even after a long heat treatment, which preserves its taste qualities.
• It goes well with a lot of flavor additives.
• Mixed with vegetable oil and sugar, it will greatly improve the taste of meat.
• Jam with the addition of badjan is not candied until 3 years.
• During cooking in vegetable, rice dishes, as well as in gravies, it well complements onion, garlic and pepper.
• It should be closely monitored for its dosage during cooking, because the surplus can impart a bitter taste to the dish. For 1 liter of water will be enough one ray of a fragrant star, and 6-8 liters of jam - one star.

Treating Badian's Decoction

Since the stellate anise has an expectorant effect, it is added to the composition of cough medicines.

Another of its properties is a sedative effect - in a small amount of tea with an apple can be given to infants with teething.

Inhalations using this wonderful plant are used to treat diseases of the upper respiratory tract. With increased nervous disorders, it is recommended to take baths with the addition of oil or Badyan's decoction, besides, the plant helps to strengthen immunity, normalize the work of the endocrine and nervous systems, increase the production of estrogen, normalize the menstrual cycle, and also alleviate pain with menstruation.

The use of badyan is indisputable, from which point of view. It is good for both health and beauty, and for creating culinary delicious dishes, so there should be in the arsenal of every housewife.