Benefits of Fennel Bulb

Fennel is a plant whose leaves look very much like dill thin,waving frondy filaments of bright green.Not only are the leaves edible but so are the seeds,bulbs and even the pollen.Fennel bulb which looks kind of like a cross between an onion and the base of a bunch of celery has a sweet,perfumy,anise like flavor.Fennel Leaves can be chopped up and used to flavor any number of dishes,either hot or cold,much like you would use any other culinary herb.Fennel seeds are one of the primary spices in Italian sausage and they are also used frequently in Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine.Fennel pollen is one of those ingredients that is almost exclusively used in fine dining kitchen.

Health Benefits

 The health benefits of fennel bulb includes the following,

• Fennel bulb is a versatile vegetable used since ancient times for its nutritional and medicinal properties.
• The bulbs have moderate amounts of minerals and vitamins that are essential for optimum health.Their juicy fronds indeed contain several vital vitamins such as pantothenic acid,pridoxine,folic acid,niacin,thiamin and riblofavin.
• The fennel bulb contains folic acid.The folic acid is essential for DNA synthesis and cell division.Their adequate levels in the diet during pregnancy can help prevent neural tube defects in the newborn babies.
• Fennel bulb is one of very low calorie vegetables.Fresh bulbs give sweet anise like flavor,much of its due to high concentration of aromatic essential oils like anethole,estragole and fenchone.Anethole has been found to have anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties.
• Fennel bulb contain average amount of water-soluble vitamin- C.The vitamin-C helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful and pro-inflammatory free radicals.
• The Fennel bulb have very good levels of heart friendly electrolyte potassium.Potassium helps to reduce blood pressure and rate of heartbeats by countering effects of sodium.
• Fennel also contains small amounts of minerals such as copper,zinc,magnesium,selenium,manganese and calcium.