Experienced housewives often use two popular plants in folk recipes and cooking - fennel and dill. What is the difference between these two crops, whose leaves and seeds are so similar in appearance? Many do not see the difference between them, but the composition and beneficial properties of plants have some differences. Let's get to know them better.
Fennel
Fennel is a perennial plant belonging to the Celery family. Fennel stems are branched and tall, up to 2.5 meters. Outside, the stem is covered with a bluish bloom, and inside it has a porous structure. The leaves are threadlike and long, and the inflorescences of the plant look like yellowish umbrellas.
There are two types of this crop - vegetable and common fennel. Vegetable fennel is easily recognizable by its fleshy rhizome. The fruits of the plant are large and sweet and are often used in various dishes.
Fennel seeds have a distinctive smell of anise, with hints of tarragon and peppermint. It is by seeds that the plant propagates. Seeds are sown not earlier than April, and the fruits appear only by September. Fennel is afraid of the cold, so it grows mainly in a subtropical climate, but also inour latitudes you can find some of its varieties.
Useful properties of fennel
Different composition and properties are the main characteristics that distinguish fennel and dill. What is the difference between them, every housewife should know in order to successfully use each of the plants as traditional medicine. As for fennel, it contains many vitamins and elements necessary for the human body:
- essential and fatty oils;
- B vitamins and provitamin A;
- biotin;
- phytosterols;
- amino acids;
- calcium, manganese, zinc, copper, iron and other macro- and micronutrients.
In addition, fennel is unusually tasty and fragrant. The fruits of the plant are mainly used in cooking, but fennel seeds are also popular as a condiment.
Dill
Smelling dill is a habitual inhabitant of vegetable gardens and cottages. It is easily recognizable by its feathery leaves and characteristic dill smell. The stems of dill are low, up to 90 cm, small grooves with a wax coating are clearly visible on them. The fruits of the plant are small, gray-brown in color. They are not used for food, only dill leaves are of value for cooking.
Dill is unpretentious - it does not require care and grows well even in frost conditions. It propagates by seeds, and they can be sown several times during the year. Shoots appear quite quickly, in just a week. As soon as the stems reach 5 centimeters in height, the leaves can already be cut andeat.
Dill: useful properties
Dill, like fennel, is actively used in recipes for folk remedies. Dill contains the following elements:
- folic acid;
- essential oils;
- vitamin C, P, as well as a number of B vitamins;
- flavonoids;
- phosphorus, potassium, iron.
Fennel vs Dill - What's the difference?
What makes these two cultures different?
- Growing conditions and plant care.
- Appearance.
- Smell and taste.
- Composition, useful properties and application.
- Cooking use.
The difference is easy to understand if you take a closer look at the plants. In fact, there are many external differences - dill is lower than fennel and has no fruits. In cooking, it is fennel fruits that are most often used, while fresh green leaves have valuable taste qualities in dill.
How to distinguish dill from fennel if you have plant seeds in front of you? Very simple - fennel seeds are longer, they easily break into two parts and smell completely different than dill seeds. For the treatment of colic in infants and to increase lactation in nursing mothers, it is an infusion of fennel seeds that is used. Remarkably, it is called "dill water". At the same time, dill seeds have a richer taste and aroma, they are more often used as a seasoning.
Also in medicine, a decoction of fennel seeds is more often used as an antispasmodic,expectorant and antimicrobial agent. Dill medicines have similar properties, but less pronounced. They are more commonly used as diuretics.
A good housewife must know the difference between crops such as fennel and dill. What is the difference between them is easy to find out by growing each of the plants in your garden. Such a close acquaintance with them will allow in the future not to confuse two valuable cultures and to use them competently in the kitchen and in family he alth recipes.
