- France >
- Know your vegetables! >
- Vegetables' portraits > Fenouil
Fennel
Every knowledge on vegetables, health and nutrition.
Scientific Name
Foeniculum Vulgare (Umbelliferae family)Common name
Aneth doux, wild fennel, roman fennel, finocchio, sweet fennel, long sweet fennel, hog’s fennel
Varieties and seasons
Fennel is a biannual or hardy plan with an elongated spindle-shaped root, about the thickness of a finger, round and whitish. The cyclindrical stem can grow up to two metres. Sometimes slightly flat, it is lightly streaked and a pleasant green colour. It has very large, opposed leaves, with broadly amplexicaul leafstalks, intercut with a large number of very fine segments. The small, yellow flowers are visible from June to September as umbels at the extremity of the stems. They provide oblong fruits with protruding, equal-sized cottae. The bulb is a vegetable and the leaves and seeds are condiments.
The sweet or tuberose fennel has a more bulbous appearance than bitter fennel, with thicker white leafstalks, and very green leaves.
Bitter fennel features green leafstalks that grow from the base of the bulb. The leaves are highly indented at their extremity. The mild “Florence fennel” and Mammoth Fennel, with a voluminous bulb. Crystal, Carmo and late Zefa, which have a fat, flattened bulb. Zela Fino and Mantua, with a smaller bulb.
Vegetable garden: growing fennel
Fennel is a sun-loving plant that grows in the wild on the road side and near the sea. The seeds are sown in Spring in a mixture of earth enriched with compost 6 cm in depth in rows spaced 50 cm apart. During its growth period, it is important to earth up the bulb in order to retain its white appearance.
Production
Fennel is massively produced in Italy (92% of the production). Spain, Netherlands, Israel, Turkey and Egypt are important exporting countries.
Consumption
French people eat 400g of fresh fennel per person per year, much less than Italian.
Nutritional values (per 100 g)
Raw* | Raw** | RDI*** | |
|---|---|---|---|
Energy | 16 kcal | 31 kcal | |
Proteins | 1.1 g | 1.24 g | |
Carbohydrates | 2.3 g | 7.29 g | |
Fat | 0.3 g | 0.2 g | |
Fibres | 3.3 g | 3.1 g | 30 g |
Sodium | 15 mg | 52 mg | |
Potassium | 473 mg | 414 mg | 2,000 mg |
Vitamin B9 | 55 µg | 200 µg | |
Selenium | nd | 0.7 µg | 55 µg |
* Ciqual 1995 ** USDA *** Recommended Daily Intake nd : no determined |
Nutritionist's advices
Fennel possesses naturally diuretic qualities. Enjoying a high water content, it contributes to replenishing the body’s water supplies.
What is about portions...?
-a child portion: one medium fennel
-an adult portion: two medium fennels
Cooking and nutrition: tasty combinations
-Fennel and fish: fennel’s aniseed flavour is the perfect partner for fish, including salmon, hake and sea bream. Cook the fish covered by thin slices of fennel, in the oven or steamed in foil.
-Fennel, coriander and feta salad: the tanginess of coriander adds a bite to the "crunchy/aniseed" and "mild/salty"duo. Calcium, fibre, vitamin C guaranteed.
