Common Questions and Answers About Star Anise

1: Does Every Star Anise Have Eight Points?

Many people may think that star anise must have exactly eight points, but this is not entirely true. As an agricultural crop, most star anise naturally has eight points, but it is normal for some to have more or fewer points.

Gulong Town in Guangxi, China, a major star anise cultivation base, has developed a new grafted variety in recent years. Most of these new star anise fruits have 8 to 13 points. Compared with traditional varieties, they are larger in size, have more points, are rich in oil content, and are resistant to diseases and insect pests. This new variety has become very popular in the market due to its excellent characteristics.

2: How to Classify Star Anise?

Star anise can be classified in two main ways: by harvesting season and by quality grade. Each classification has clear characteristics that help distinguish different types of star anise.

First, classification by harvesting season divides star anise into spring fruits and autumn fruits. Spring fruits are relatively smaller and thinner than autumn fruits. Their petals are of different lengths and sizes; some petals are open, revealing the seeds inside, while others are closed and the seeds are not visible. Overall, the output of spring fruits is relatively small.

Autumn fruits are the main output. They are large and uniform in shape. Most of the red autumn star anise petals are open, showing a golden color and visible seeds, with a strong fragrance.

Second, classification by quality grade divides star anise into red star anise and Ganzhi star anise. Red star anise is processed from mature star anise picked in spring and autumn, and its specific characteristics are consistent with the descriptions of spring and autumn fruits mentioned above.

Ganzhi star anise refers to the star anise that remains on the tree after spring and autumn harvests, or those that are too high to pick. These fruits are naturally air-dried on the tree and then fall to the ground, which are later collected, cleaned and dried manually.

 Ganzhi star anise has thin and long petals, which are basically closed and have no visible seeds. Its fragrance is slightly lighter, but it is still a good raw material for processing food spice powder.