THE CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS - IFEAT

CH 3HC CHOCH 3Trans-anetholeOCH 3CH 3Cis-anetholeTrans-anethole is much more common than cis-anethole. Trans-anethole, used as flavouring, isconfirmed as “GRAS” (Generally Recognised as Safe) by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration)and FEMA (Flavor Extract Manufactures Association) in the USA. Trans-anethole exists naturally inmore than 20 kinds of foods. In the 1980s, more than 100 tons of trans-anethole was ingested throughtraditional foods every year. Cis-anethole has toxicity and an acrid pungent odour, but its content isless than 1% in food and cosmetics. Generally the content of cis-anethole is no more than 0.2%. Lethaldose (LD 50 ) data are shown in Table 2.Table 2 Anethole LD 50 dataNameLethal doseMelting point!LD 50 "!mg/kg"!℃"Trans-anethole 900 21.4Cis-anethole 93 -22.5Anethole can cover unpleasant odours, so it is widely used as a masking agent in commodities, such astoilet soap, toothpaste, mouthwash and so on. This is the main use of anethole, about 80% of the total.It is used as a flavouring additive and scent in food industry products such as beverages, liquor, candy,baked goods, chewing gum and cigarettes etc. Anethole is also used in industrial products,deodorisation, medicine, feed additives, synthetic flavours, pesticides and so forth.It is difficult to quantity the volume of anethole usedexactly, but an expert from a world famous companycalculated that about 3,500 – 4,000 tons annually is usedin the fragrance formulas of toothpastes, mouth washesand so on, about 80% in total. About 8% of anethole isused in foodstuffs, leaving approximately 12% for otheruses. So the total quantity of anethole, including aniseoil, is now nearly 5,000 tons, with the demand for theproduct increasing year by year. We can say thatanethole is a product with much potential.Other Uses 12%Daily NecessitiesOther UsesFoodstuffsFoodstuffs 8% Daily Necessities 80%Figure 1. Uses and quantity of anetholeDaily Necessities: Toilet soap, toothpaste, mouthwash etc.Foodstuffs: Beverages, liquour, candy, baked goods, chewing gumandcigarettes etcOther Uses: Industrial products’ deodorisation, medicine, feedadditives, synthetic flavours, pesticide etc.104