UPDATED: 10:33, November 01, 2005
Cooking spice key player in bird flu battle
With the spread of bird flu prompting fears of an epidemic or even
pandemic that could kill humans by the million, a Chinese spice
hitherto associated with the pleasures of aperitifs has suddenly
assumed key medical significance,according to the AFP re****t.
For the fruit known as star anise has an ingredient vital to a drug to
fight the strain of avian flu that has already killed more than 60
people in Asia.
Harvested in China and Vietnam and used as a spice, it provides
flavouring for candies, pastis drinks and tobacco.
But it also has a key pharmaceutical asset - ****kimic acid, described
by experts as the world's only weapon against bird flu.
Star anise, the dried, star-shaped multiple fruit of a small oriental
tree which is a member of the magnolia family, is a traditional
ingredient of oriental cuisine with its pungent, liquorice-like
flavour.
It also serves as the main flavouring of the liqueurs Pernod and
Anisette.
But its medical significance had already been noted before bird flu
arrived, including potential cancer-fighting properties.
Now it has sprung to new prominence as a chief source of ****kimic acid,
a vital ingredient of Tamiflu, one of the rare anti-viral drugs that
has proved effective against the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu which
has infected 118 people in Asia since late 2003 and killed more than 60
people.
"From this one plant you can make both a drink -- pastis -- and a
pharmaceutical product, Tamiflu," said Albert Elgrissy, communications
director for the pastis maker Ricard in Marseille.
"To make pastis, Pernod Ricard adds anethol -- an essential oil
extracted from star anise -- in a ratio of two to one thousand to
liquorice, sage, lavender and other herbs of Provence."
"Meanwhile the Swiss Roche laboratories extract ****kimic acid from the
plant's woody part. This acid is a molecule needed to produce Tamiflu."
"Thirteen grams (0.46 ounces) of star anise are required to produce 10
Tamiflu capsules prescribed to treat a person contaminated with avian
flu," Elgrissy explained.
But ****kimic acid does not come cheap. The price varies between 200 and
250 dollars (166-207 euros) per kilogram, the equivalent of between 90
and 113 dollars per pound.
But for extra pure quality, the price soars to as high as 50 dollars a
gram, the equivalent of 1,555 dollars an ounce, according to the
website of Yusuf Hamied, head of Cipla, an Indian generic drugs
manufacturer.
With its distinctive flavour, star anise has been closely linked for
centuries with Asian cooking. Every year 30,000 tonnes of the fruit are
used across the world for recipes for Vietnamese soup and ****k
Chinese-style.
China is the world's main producer of star anise, annually ex****ting
1,000 tonnes of anethol, the oil extract from the flower's dried
pistil.
In the West, anethol is used in the manufacture of various consumer
products including candies, biscuits, perfumes and hygiene products
such as toothpaste and soap.
"The tobacco industry also uses star anise together with rum for
example, to give texture and flavour to cigarettes," said Elgrissy.
Pernod Ricard uses 160 tonnes of anethol annually, making it one of
France's major users of the product.
"For pastis we use star anise but sometimes also essential oil of
fennel which also discharges an anise odour."
Elgrissy said fennel had served as an alternative to star anise "when
the Chinese organised a star anise shortage in the 1970s to provoke a
spectacular price rise."
In 2001, French authorities banned use of star anise in drugs and herb
teas following re****ted cases of convulsion after infusions of herbal
tea had been consumed.
Japanese star anise containing toxic alkaloids was later banned from
being merchandised in any product in France.
But the pharmaceutical industry says it is satisfied that the Chinese
version does not contain any such health risks.
Source: AFP/Xinhua
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