A five-minute primer on an issue making headlines
Last week, the world found out why it was so difficult to obtain enough Tamiflu - the most promising drug in mitigating the severity of bird flu. No, it is not because drug companies are greedy. The culprit is much smaller and can be found in most Asian kitchens. Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche says it is because of a shortage of star anise.
The cooking spice?
Yes. Star anise, called bat gok in Cantonese and ba jiao in Putonghua, is a key raw material used to produce Tamiflu. It is derived from the eight-pointed star-shaped fruit that is used in most duck dishes and Asian soups. Warm, sweet and aromatic, it is a component of five-spice powder and is used in the west as a less expensive substitute for anise in baking and in alcohol production. Related to the Magnolia family, star anise is obtained from the Illicium verum, a native tree of northeastern China. The key raw material in producing Tamiflu from star anise is shikimic acid.
Does the spice have medicinal effects?
It is a remedy for colic and rheumatism when infused in a tea drink. However, this pungent tea lost some of its charm after 40 people, including 15 infants, suffered from seizures, vomiting, jitteriness and rapid eye movement, after drinking it.
Tests showed that the people had taken Japanese star anise (Illicium anisatum) - a highly toxic variety very similar to the Chinese one - instead.