The seeds are composed of 18 percent proteins, eight to 23 percent fatty oils, two to seven percent essential oils, five percent starch, 22 to 28 percent N-free extracts and 12 to 25 percent crude fibre. The remaining nine to 13 percent of the seed’s weight is moisture.
Aniseeds are delightfully fragrant due to their high concentration of anethole, an essential oil. The seeds also contain other important compounds like acetophenone, p-anisaldehyde, anise alcohol, estragol, limonene and pinene.
The seeds are an excellent source of minerals like iron, magnesium, calcium, manganese, zinc, potassium and copper. These minerals are essential to cardiac, bone and blood health and are needed by the body to turn food into energy.
The B-complex vitamins found in aniseed are essential to overall health. Loaded with riboflavin, pyridoxine, niacin and thiamin, the seeds can contribute to healthy levels of neuro-chemicals in the brain.