Star Anise Spice: New Treatment for Bird Flu?

November 30, 2005

Tamiflu (oseltamivir) may have a new rival. Star anise, a licorice-flavored spice that is a staple of many Asian kitchens, may be a new weapon in the arsenal to fight global influenza.

A key ingredient in Chinese cuisine's five-spice powder, star anise is also the primary source of shikimic acid used to produce oseltamivir phosphate-sold under brand-name Tamiflu-according to a report by National Geographic.

Rising fears of a bird-flu pandemic have raised not only demand for Tamiflu, but also demand for the once-obscure fruit from which it is produced. This month, English-language newspaper China Daily reported that the price of star anise in some Chinese markets had doubled in just one week's time.

Apparently, the US spice market is also seeing spikes in star anise prices. "This week it has jumped considerably in price, and now supply issues are becoming a problem as well, when a month ago there was plenty of supply," said Dennis Knock of Frontier Natural Foods Co-Op in Norway, Iowa, according to National Geographic.

The news may not be good for Roche, the Swiss pharmaceutical company that is currently the sole producer of Tamiflu. Tamiflu's revenues more than doubled from the three-month period ending in June to the three-month period ending in September 2005, when Tamiflu garnered sales of US$211 million, according to National Geographic.

And Roche plans to produce around 300 million doses of Tamiflu by 2007; this year, it will produce about 55 million doses.

Tamiflu or Mu Shu Pork?

The media coverage around Tamiflu has contributed to the stir about star anise.

"There has been a lot of emotional run-up in prices, both in China and in the US," explained Ed Deep, a spice broker with AA Sayia & Company in Hoboken, New Jersey, to National Geographic. "In New York it has gone from around $1.30 a pound [about half a kilogram] up to $1.70 a pound."

"[Roche] is buying a larger amount of star anise to extract the shikimic acid that they need for Tamiflu," he added. He noted that some demand is being driven by "people who believe that star anise will help with the flu-which we believe is erroneous."

Chinese cooks are also fueling star anise price-spikes, according to Deep.

"I was in China last week, and almost every day there was some report on star anise being used [to fight flu], and the local markets are revved up," he said.

"Mostly it's because housewives and people who use this in cooking think that if pharmaceutical companies are buying all of this up, there won't be enough to make their mu shu pork."

Why Star Anise Won't Work

In its original form as a spice, star anise offers little or no help to flu sufferers. Shikimic acid is extracted from the fruit's distinctive seedpod only by a lengthy and complicated process-and the details are Roche's trade-secret.

Even Chinese medical practitioners advise consumers not to bother stockpiling star anise as a protection against the flu.

However, the plant still has some medicinal uses.

"It's used as a digestive stimulant in Chinese medicine," said Bryn Clark, an herbalist practicing in Beverly, Massachusetts. "It's got a warming quality, so it has kind of a slightly stimulant effect on a digestive system that has gotten slow or is having problems."

Star anise teas are also used to treat colic in babies. However, in 2003, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an advisory against using such teas when dozens of people became ill after drinking them. The reason may be that these teas in question contained a different variety of star anise. (Japanese star anise is toxic, whereas its benign Chinese relative is benign).

Nevertheless, the FDA warned against consuming any star anise teas, citing the lack of specific evidence to support their assumed benefits.

Harvesting Star Anise

Star anise grows on evergreen trees in hot, humid, mountainous areas and thrive well in China's southwestern provinces of Guizhou, Guangxi Zhuangzu, Sichuan and Yunnan.

The eight-pointed seedpods are harvested and dried before Roche begins the extraction process to yield shikimic acid for Tamiflu. For every 66 pounds (30 kilograms) of pods, only 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) of shikimic acid is produced, according to Roche's Web site.

Although other plants also contain shikimic acid, star anise has a concentration that makes it particularly attractive to drug manufacturers.

"There are a number of different varieties of star anise, but only one in particular has the concentration of shikimic acid that can be extracted cost-effectively, and I know that we're not concerned about that supply," said Al Wasilewski, a spokesperson for Roche in Nutley, New Jersey, to National Geographic.

Roche also produces shikimic acid using an alternative, E. coli bacteria-fermentation process. Roche hopes to expand the use of this process to make harvesting shikimic acid more cost-effective, thereby reducing demand for star anise.

"About a third of our production of shikimic acid comes from fermentation, and our goal over time is to shift from an extraction-dominant [star anise-based] source of shikimic acid to a fermentation source," Wasilewski reportedly said.

Meanwhile, there is no short-term supply relief in sight, as star anise trees take years to mature. However, Deep notes that star anise is still commercially available, albeit at a high price, and that such markets are always subject to unpredictable events.

"If the world is fortunate with this pandemic that everyone is talking about, the whole demand for Tamiflu may just go down the tubes," he said.

"Star anise has found its day in the sun-but how long it will last is anyone's guess."

Source:
Bird-Flu Fears Spur Sales of Star Anise Spice, National Geographic online, 29 November 2005.

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