Dear Friends:

I am really grateful for this group.

Recently I read in one of the prominent American Indian newspapers
that Star Spice (variously called Anistar / Badiyan ) is the main
ingredient for Tamiflu.

Also, "[Roche] is buying a larger amount of star anise to extract
the shikimic acid that they need for Tamiflu"

"Bird-Flu Fears Spur Sales of Star Anise Spice
Brian Handwerk
for National Geographic News

November 28, 2005
A licorice-flavored spice that's long been a staple on Asian tables
may now be a major weapon against global influenza.

Part of Chinese cuisine's five-spice powder, star anise is also the
primary source of shikimic acid used to produce oseltamivir
phosphate, sold under the brand name Tamiflu.


Bird Flu Basics: What It Is and How It Could Explode
Killer Bird Flu Pandemic Is Preventable, Expert Says

With fears of a bird-flu pandemic rising, the antiviral flu-
treatment drug is in demand—and so is the once obscure fruit used to
produce it.

China Daily, a government-run English-language newspaper, reported
early this month that star anise prices in some Chinese markets had
doubled in a week's time. United States spice merchants are seeing
spikes as well.
"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.

The Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche is currently the only company
producing Tamiflu.
This year the drug's revenues more than doubled from the three-month
period ending in June to the three-month period ending in September,
when Tamiflu rang up sales worth 211 million U.S. dollars.
Roche plans to produce some 300 million doses of Tamiflu by 2007.
This year it will produce about 55 million doses.
The Tamiflu boom and subsequent media coverage have created a buzz
around star anise.
"There has been a lot of emotional run-up in prices, both in China
and in the U.S," explained Ed Deep, a spice broker with A.A. Sayia &
Company in Hoboken, New Jersey.
"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," Deep added. He also noted
that some of the demand is driven by "people who believe that star
anise will help with the flu—which we believe is erroneous."
"

For full article, read:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...1128_star_anis
e.html

I hope this will be helpful for everyone visiting here.
Incidently, Star Spice is grown and easily available in South India.

This is for everyone's information.

Regards,
Sucheta

Dear Suchetaji,

This also highlights the dangers of "isolating the active ingredient".
While Anistar is totally side effect free, the same cannot be said for
Tamiflu which has to be used with extreme caution for its very severe
side effects. No wonder the Govt has prohibited its over the counter
use. The most funny thing is that Tamiflu is declared by mainstream
doctors to be complete useless or at best limitedly useful against
bird flu in humans.

Another facet of the "economics" of disease.

Regards,
Jagannath.

--- In ayurvedaonline (AT) yahoogroups (DOT) com, "Sucheta" <SuchetaUSA@...>
wrote:
>
> Dear Friends:
>
> I am really grateful for this group.
>
> Recently I read in one of the prominent American Indian newspapers
> that Star Spice (variously called Anistar / Badiyan ) is the main
> ingredient for Tamiflu.

star anise does not equal tamiflu
and further, shikimic acid is found in many other species of plants, star anise
containing
not even being close to the highest amount

***
Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
Plants Containing SHIKIMIC ACID
Ordered by quantity

Mammea americana L. -- MameyLeaf 0-700,000 ppm HHB
Terminalia chebula RETZ. -- Black Myrobalan, Chebulic Myrobalan, Ink Nut,
Myrobalan
Fruit 22,000 ppm DUKE1992A
Pistacia lentiscus L. -- Chios Mastictree, Lentisco (Sp.), Mastic, Mastictree,
Mastixbaum
(Ger.) Leaf 18,000 ppm DUKE1992A
Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) MILL. -- Indian Fig, Nopal, Nopalito, Prickly Pear
Fruit 220 ppm
DUKE1992A

***

further, tamiflu is a drug synthesized from an isolated plant ingredient
comparing star anise with tamiflu is like saying that the wild yam is like
pharmaceutical-
grade progesterone

best... todd caldecott

--- In ayurvedaonline (AT) yahoogroups (DOT) com, "Sucheta" <SuchetaUSA@...> wrote:
> Recently I read in one of the prominent American Indian newspapers
> that Star Spice (variously called Anistar / Badiyan ) is the main
> ingredient for Tamiflu.
>
> Also, "[Roche] is buying a larger amount of star anise to extract
> the shikimic acid that they need for Tamiflu"
>
> "Bird-Flu Fears Spur Sales of Star Anise Spice
> Brian Handwerk
> for National Geographic News
>
> November 28, 2005
> A licorice-flavored spice that's long been a staple on Asian tables
> may now be a major weapon against global influenza.
>
> Part of Chinese cuisine's five-spice powder, star anise is also the
> primary source of shikimic acid used to produce oseltamivir
> phosphate, sold under the brand name Tamiflu.