Botany and chemistry of Foeniculum vulgare var. Dulce mill. and Foeniculum vulgare var. Vulgare mill: A review

Abstract

The Apiaceae family (Umbelliferae) comprises both vegetable and aromatic and medicinal species. Among the most used aromatic species from this family is Foeniculum vulgare Mill, which can be cultivated in various climatic conditions. Foeniculum vulgare ssp. vulgare Mill. can be cultivated using three varieties: Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum Mill., also called bulbing fennel or Florence fennel, Foeniculum vulgare var. dulce Mill. with the common name of sweet fennel and Foeniculum vulgare var. vulgare Mill., this variety is known as bitter fennel due to the bitter aroma of the seeds.In this review were presented the results of various publications, reported between 1961 and 2019, on two varieties of fennel, var. dulce and var. vulgare. The publications were selected from the electronic library.Therefor in this article, various botany and chemistry differences between sweet fennel and bitter fennel have been presented.