Herb Of The Week - Dill - King's American Dispensatory

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From King's American Dispensatory by Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D., and

John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D., 1898.

 

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The Anethum graveolens, Linné. (Peucedanum graveolens, Hiern.)

 

Nat. Ord.—Umbelliferae.

 

COMMON NAMES: Dill seeds, Dill fruits.

 

Botanical Source.—This plant is an annual, bearing large yellow flowers,

disposed in flat umbels. It reaches a height of from 1 to 2 feet, and

has delicately striated stems, bearing pinnate leaves composed of long,

setaceous leaflets. The whole plant is glaucous. The root is long and

fusiform.

 

History.—This plant is indigenous to Southern Russia and other

Mediterranean regions; also to the Caucasian territories. It is

cultivated in Europe, thriving as far north as the Scandinavian

peninsula. It occurs in some sections as a common weed in cornfields. It

is cultivated to a very limited extent in this country. It is scarcely

used here as a medicine, but enjoys considerable reputation in, England,

where it holds a place in the British Pharmacopoeia. It is said to have

been known to Dioscorides, and is now regarded as the plant mentioned in

the Scriptures (Matt., ch. xxiii, v. 23).

 

Description.—ANETHI FRUCTUS. Dill-fruit. The seeds are oval or ovoid,

seldom longer than 1/5 inch, convex or flattish on one side, concave on

the dorsum, which is striated or marked with piliform ridges 5 in

number, the two outer ribs becoming blended with the thin, membranaceous

margin surrounding the fruit. The 3 central or dorsal ridges are sharply

keeled. Six vittae (oil cells), are usually present, 4 between the ribs

and 2 on the commissure. The mericarps separate when mature, are about

1/10 inch in width, and of a brown color. The membranous marginal wings

are of a yellowish color. The fruit has a strongly aromatic odor and

taste. The fruit grown in India is smaller, not so broad, more

prominently ribbed, more convex, and the margin less winged. Otherwise

it resembles the above described European fruit.

 

Chemical Composition.—Dill-fruit yields a volatile oil to which its

properties are probably due. This oil is obtained to the extent of 3 or

4 per cent, and was found by Gladstone to consist mainly of anethene

(C10H16), a hydrocarbon having the odor of lemons, strongly dextrogyre,

with boiling point at 172° C. (341.6° F.), and density of 0 846. Two

other bodies have also been found (see Oleum Anethi).

 

Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Carminative and stomachic, and used in

the preparation of dill-water. The natives of India use the fruit

largely in medicine and cookery. Flatulent colic and singultus, when due

to disordered digestion, are relieved by the administration of

dill-water or the oil of dill; the former in 1 or 2-drachm doses, the

latter in from 2 to 5-drop doses on sugar. It possesses no advantages

over the other aromatic seeds.

 

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Aqua Anethi.—Dill Water.

 

Preparation.— " Dill fruit, bruised, 1 pound; water, 2 gallons. Distill 1

gallon " —(Br. Ph.). Imperial measure.

 

History, Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—This water is but little used

in America. It is slightly opalescent when first made, and resembles

anise water in odor and taste. It may be administered in infantile

colic. When administered to a nursing mother it is said to impart its

flavor to the milk. The dose is from 1 fluid drachm to 1 fluid ounce.

 

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Oleum Anethi.—Oil of Dill.

 

The volatile oil distilled from the fruit of Anethum graveolens, Linné.

Nat. Ord.—Umbelliferae.

 

Preparation and Description.—The yield of the oil, obtained by

distillation with water, is from 2.5 per cent (East Indian) to 4 per

cent (Russian) (Schimmel & Co.). The residual herb is rich in

nitrogenous and fatty matter, and in dried form is used as feed for

cattle. The oil is pale yellow, having a sweetish, sharp, burning taste,

and a penetrating odor resembling that of the fruit. It gradually

becomes darker in color. The odor of East Indian dill oil differs

markedly from that of the German product. The density is 0.905 to 0.915

(as high as 0.970 for East Indian) (Schimmel & Co.). Optical rotation,

+70° to +80°; East Indian, +41° 30'.

 

Chemical Composition.—Oil of dill contains from 40 to 60 per cent of

carvone (carvol), identical in optical rotation and other physical and

chemical properties with that from oil of caraway (see A. Beyer, Amer.

Jour. Pharm., 1884, p. 324). Furthermore, the terpene hydrocarbons,

dextro-limonene, and sometimes phellandrene are present. The East Indian

dill oil contains a peculiar heavy constituent, ascertained by Ciamician

and Silber (1896) to be an isomer of apiol from parsley oil and named by

these chemists dill-apiol (C14H14O4) (Gildemeister and Hoffmann, Die

Aetherischen Oele, 1899).

 

Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Carminative and local anodyne. Useful

in flatulent colic. Dose, 5 to 10 drops in sweetened hot water.