13th Conference on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of Southeast European Countries (CMAPSEEC 2026)

Background: Anethole is natural aromatic compound in spirit drinks that contain extracts of the following plants: Illicium verum, Pimpinella anisum, Foeniculum vulgare or any other plant that contains anethole. Spirit drinks that contain anethole are: ouzo, Chios mastiha, anisette, arak, chinchón, mastika, mistrà, pacharán or patxaran, pastis, raki, sambuca, xtabentún and many more. The spirit drink that contains anethole and thujone is absinthe. The myth was that thujone causes hallucinations.
Materials and Methods: The Foeniculum vulgare and Laurus nobilis leaves were extracted by hydrodistillation and supercritical CO2 extraction. The extracts obtained were analyzed by GC-MS.
Results: The results obtained revealed that all plant extracts contain anethole and thujone.
Conclusions: The Laurus nobilis leaves are a spice during drying fish and meat, during preparing fish and meat marinades, soups, sauces, broths and stews, stewed meat dishes, stewed vegetable dish sauerkraut. Laurus nobilis leaves enhance the aroma and taste of the goulash with one leaf per kilogram of meat. When baking stuffed sardines with salty cheese in the oven, a fresh Laurus nobilis leaf between each sardine induces a nice smell. When it comes to freshwater fish, whether it is dried, smoked or fresh, baked, boiled with the addition of wine, beer, butter, red hot pepper or cream, a Laurus nobilis leaf is added, which completes the taste of the fish and its sauce with its mild pleasant smell. The Laurus nobilis leaf is used in food preparations and it was never remarked that it has caused hallucinations. This implies that thujone does not cause the hallucinations. The belief that absinthe is a hallucinogen is a myth. It is up to spirit’s high volume of alcohol long before any botanical properties can manifest.