ion. Some progress has been made regarding artificial shikimic acid, but drug production still causes a shortage of star anise fruit in direct proportion to the severity of flu season. The star shaped fruit contains pea sized seeds, and it's these seeds that contain the shikimic acid. Extraction of the acid from the seeds takes a year!
Star anise is far less expensive than aniseed so it has become popular in the West as it can be substituted for aniseed in most recipes. Star anise has a slightl