A Concise Review on Toxicity and Pharmacological Aspects of Foeniculum vulgare with Emphasis on Anti-Cancer Potential

The recent advancements in field of genomics and synthetic biology has paved the way for determination and utilization of pharmaceutical properties of beneficial plants. Foeniculum vulgare is a member of Apiaceae family, commonly known as fennel. It is globally distributed aromatic medicinal herb. F. vulgare falls in the category of World’s most important medicinal herb because of its economic status and pharmaceutical industrial applications. It has been used as herbal treatment for a longer period of time as an effective medicine to cure different ailments such as liver pain, kidney disorders, swollen stomach, abdominal pain, and mouth ulcerand no documented severe side effects reported. Essential oil, flavonoids and phenolic compounds are major chemical constituents of F.vulgare. Volatile and non-volatile compounds of this plant are responsible for its biological activities. The Pharmacological experiments performed by in vitro and in vivo models, revealed that F. vulgare has strong therapeutic effects. This review is supposed to shed the light on anti-bacterial, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antifungal, antimicrobial, antianxiety, hepatoprotective, memory protective, acaricidal, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-mutagenic activities.