Fennel, The Natural Free Radical Scavenger, Scientists Find

Kyle J. Norton

Fennel may be the next generative functional food with the potency in blocking the overexpression of free radical in the induction of chronic illness, some scientists suggested.

Free radicals are the highly reactive molecules with an unpaired electron that cause oxidation by stealing an electron from other molecules to give rise of a chain activity. Once free radical starts its domino effect, it can not be stopped until two free radical species react with each other to form a stable, non-radical adduct or inhibited by the presence of antioxidants.

Antioxidants, on the other hand, are stable molecules that inhibit oxidation caused by free radicals.

The relationship between free radicals and antioxidant are summarized by Dr. V. Lobo, the lead author in the study "Free radicals, antioxidants, and functional foods: Impact on human health ", "A balance between free radicals and antioxidants is necessary for proper physiological function. If free radicals overwhelm the body's ability to regulate them, a condition known as oxidative stress ensues. Free radicals thus adversely alter lipids, proteins, and DNA and trigger a number of human diseases. Hence application of an external source of antioxidants can assist in coping this oxidative stress".

These explanations suggested that intake of antioxidants from the food sources in the stimulation of antioxidant enzymes in the body are benefits in maintaining a good health, However, the doctors continued, "Synthetic antioxidants such as butylated hydroxytoluene and butylated hydroxyanisole have recently been reported to be dangerous for human health. Thus, the search for effective, nontoxic natural compounds with antioxidative activity has been intensified in recent years".

Overexpression of free radicals or imbalance of the ratio of free radicals and antioxidants in the body can initiate oxidative stress. A prolonged period of oxidative stress in the human body plays a major part in the development of chronic and degenerative illness such as cancer, autoimmune disorders, aging, cataract, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. 

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a plant species of genus Foeniculum, belonging to Apiaceae (Umbelliferae), native to the Mediterranean.

The functional herb has been used in traditional and herbal medicine as warming, carminative, antispasmodic, antidepressant agent and to stimulate the appetite, ease indigestion, soothe coughing, reduce intestinal spasms, to regulate the menstrual cycle and relieve PMS,...

Fennel is an excellent source of natural antioxidants and contributed to the daily antioxidant diet. The functional food is found to process a free radical scavenging activity, particularly in the application of its phenolic and flavonoid.

In the examine the effects of fennel essential oil in the presence of overexpression of free radicals, researchers found, injection of the oil exerts a strong antioxidant activity in comparison with butyrated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydroxytoluene., however, injection of ethanol and water extracts of fennel showed less effective compared to essential oil.

Furthermore, in the evaluation of the essential oils of the fruits of three organically grown cultivars of Egyptian fennel (Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum, Foeniculum vulgare var. dulce and Foeniculum vulgare var. vulgare) in antibacterial and antioxidant effects, researchers showed that all three cultivars contain a great source of trans-Anethole, estragole, fenchone, and limonene.

All phytochemicals demonstrated a significant activity in free radical scavenging, in the inhibited lipid peroxidation and metal chelation.

Additional differentiation suggested that essential oils from the azoricum and dulce cultivars were more effective antioxidants than that from the vulgare cultivar and essential oils from 3 species display similar antimicrobial activities against two species of fungi, two species of Gram-negative and two species of Gram-positive bacteria.

More importantly, in the examine the effect of essential oil of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) lipophilic secondary metabolites, researchers at the Avicenna Tajik State Medical University, discovered that
* The oil exhibited moderate antioxidant activities.

* The antioxidants in the essential oil are found to protect the healthy cells and stimulate the expression of free radical in exerting cytotoxic activity against HeLa (human cervical cancer), Caco-2 (human colorectal adenocarcinoma), MCF-7 (human breast adenocarcinoma), CCRF-CEM (human T lymphoblast leukemia) and CEM/ADR5000 (adriamycin resistant leukemia) cancer cell lines;

* The most effective of the IC50 values are between 30-210 mg L-1.

These result suggested essential oil from fennel processed a great source of antioxidants with the function of balancing the ratio of free radicals in the body, thus preventing the initiation of oxidative stress.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.
Sources
(1) Foeniculum vulgare Mill: A Review of Its Botany, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, Contemporary Application, and Toxicology by Shamkant B. Badgujar,* Vainav V. Patel, and Atmaram H. Bandivdekar(PMC)
(2) Chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of essential oils from organically cultivated fennel cultivars by Shahat AA1, Ibrahim AY, Hendawy SF, Omer EA, Hammouda FM, Abdel-Rahman FH, Saleh MA(PubMed)
(3) Cytotoxicity of the Essential Oil of Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) from Tajikistan by Sharopov F1,2, Valiev A3, Satyal P4, Gulmurodov I5, Yusufi S6, Setzer WN7, Wink M8(PubMed)
(4) Free radicals, antioxidants, and functional foods: Impact on human health by V. Lobo, A. Patil, A. Phatak, and N. Chandra. (PMC)