DESCRIPTION OF THE LANG SON ANIS

The appellation of origin: Lang Son

Products bearing the appellation of origin: Anis flowers
Breed: Grant anis
Scientific name: Illicium verum Hook.f.

Lang Son is a province in the North of Vietnam, bordering with China on the East, with Bak Kan
and Thai Nguyen provinces on the West, with the Kao Bang province on the North. The Lang Son
province locates in between the tropical and subtropical areas with high and steep topography where
geographical conditions in terms of soil and climate are favorable for the growth of anis. These
conditions in turn result in special characteristics of the quality of the Lang Son’s anis compared
with other areas.

I. Special quality characteristics of the Lang Son’ anis:

The findings of the research theme: “Analysis, assessment of special characteristics of the Lang Son
Anis serving as basis for determining the boundaries of the areas for planting the Lang Son Anis”
conducted by the Research Institute for Agricultural Planning and Designing” have identified the
following special characteristics of the Lang Son Anis:

Appearance: The Lang Son anis belongs to the frangipani specious. The anis flower has 6 - 8 equal
separate petals having the star shape, dark grey color, the part at the peduncle is wide and flat, the
edge is short straight and sharp, when getting mature it cracks on the top, the seed has egg shape,
dark grey and shining color and has typical smell.

Quality of the anis oil:

The Lang Son has high content of oil, accounting for 11.04% (maximum 17.49% exceeding that of
anis in other areas (Quang Ninh and Cao Bang Province).

The main ingredient of the Lang Son anis oil is trans-anethol which accounts for 90.33% (maximum
98.47 %). This is higher than that of anis in other areas.

The special characteristics of the Lang Son anis oil:

The average content of oil: 11.04% (maximum: 17.49%);

The average content of trans-anethol in the oil: 90.33% (maximum: 98.47%);

No poisoning ingredients contained in the Lang Son anis oil.

II. Natural, human factors determining the quality characteristics of the Lang Son anis oil

Researches have shown that anis is a plant growing in a strict natural environment whose main
factors essential to the growth of the Lang Son anis are climate and soil.

1. An overview of natural, human factors affecting on the growth of the Lang Son anis

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 1.1. Natural factors
(i) Geographical and topographical conditions:
Lang Son is the area of mountains where the anis grows on mountains at the attitude from
200 to 800 m, and the steepness from 20 to 25o.

In the area where anis grows there are flagstone, plaster and macma acid stone. Main ingredients of
these stones are oxide, iron, aluminum, …thus resulting in soil with average nutrition.
These topographical and geographical factors are suitable for the growth and development of anis.

(ii) Hydrology:

Lang Son Province has a high density of rivers and streams, there are two big rivers: the Ky Cung
River and Bac Giang River. Together with the mountain and steep topography, these natural
conditions affect the water supply in the region, in the dry season, the water level is low, in the rainy
season, the speed of water flow is high, causing flood, and the soils surface is washed out, thus soil
become poor. This factor affects the growth, the productivity and quality of the anis.

(iii) Climate:

The climate in Lang Son has special characteristics as it belongs to neighboring the tropical climate;
it is cold, dry in winter. The rainy season starts in April and ends in September, annual average
rainfall is not high (from 1391 to 1541 mm/year). Annual average humidity is 82%, annual average
temperature is 21oC, and the evaporation is high exceeding the rainfall for six months a year.

Hoarfrost is a climate factor affecting the growth of all kinds of plants in general. Anis as a plant
growing on the mountains is greatly affected by hoarfrost. Fortunately, according to the meteorology
statistics, annually the number of days with hoarfrost is low, namely:
− In the That Khe District: 0 day
− Lang Son city: 2.1 days
− Bac Son District: 2.3 days

This is very important factor determining the quality of Lang Son anis.
The amplitude of temperature is also an important factor affecting the oil plant like anis, the higher
the amplitude the higher the productivity of oil. Anis produces oil in July and August. The
amplitude of temperature in July and August in Lang son province has been recorded as follows:

Amplitude of temperature in July Amplitude of temperature in

August
In the anis areas of the Lang 7,80C 7,60C
Son province:
Quang Ninh Province (at 7,80C 7,60C
the Dinh Lap Station)
Cao Bang Province (at the 7,30C 7,50C
Trung Khanh Station)

(iv) Soil
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Lang Son Province has 14 types of soil, where anis can only grows on the grey feralic soil on the
acid macma stone (ACFa) and the grey feralic on the stone clay (ACFs).

The average acidity of the ACFa soil is from 3.50 to 4.66. The organic content depend son the
surface covering plants. The organic content of the deep layers is low. The total content of organic
matters at the surface is rather rich, whereas that of deeper layers is less rich, from average to upper
average level.

The fertileness of ACFs soil varies subject to the covering plants, the cultivating regime, and the
level of erosion. The soil has high level of acidity at all layers, the level of PHkcl varies from 3.35 to
4.0; the organic content changes significantly; the total content of organic matters is quite rich at the
surface layer and less rich at deeper layers.

Researches on the biological characteristics have shown that anis can best grow on the soil with
flagstone, plaster and macma acid stone, having high porosity and especially high acidity. Both the
two types of soil (ACFa and ACFs) are suitable in terms of the biological conditions for anis to
grow and develop in Lang son province.

1.2 The human factor

As for the natural and historical factors, the cultivation from planting, looking after, harvesting,
processing of the Lang Son anis has certain characteristics which together with natural factors
determine special quality characteristics of the Lang Son anis.

(i) Species of anis

Apart from the anis old forests, for new anis areas, local people use selected seeds based on
traditional experiences. Seeds are mixed with wet sand at the proportion of ½ (one part of seeds and
two parts of sand) kept in a hole of the size 40 cm x 40 cm at the slope of mountains in a way to
avoid stagnant water; each hole contains from 3.0 to 5.0 kg of seeds, when the seeds sprouts from
15% to 20% then they can be planted.

(ii) Looking after

Most families possessing anis forests do not apply any measures for looking after the anis, except
for clearing the anis forests after harvesting.

(iii) Harvesting and processing

People in Lang Son Province harvest anis manually by climbing up the anis trees, picking the anis
fruits and putting them into bags. After harvesting, anis is kept in a thin layer in a clear with the sun
shine from 9.00 a.m. to 10.00 a.m., kept drying for 5 days then seeds will be separated from the anis
fruit. The attract of anis oil is also conducted manually, using a span or a tank for boiling, a pipe for
water supplying to make it thicken into oil which flow along a pipe to a container.

2. Conditions/factors affecting/determining the quality of the Lang Son anis

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The natural and human factors mentioned in (1) do affect the quality of Lang Son anis at various
levels. However, according to researches’ results, the following factors would most affect the
quality of Lang Son anis.

2.1. Climate

In comparison with Quang Ninh province and Cao Bang province, climate in Lang Son province is
most suitable for the growth of anis as well as ensuring the best quality of anis oil.

(i) The rainfall

The average rainfall is 1,471.3 mm which is most suitable for anis to grow (in the range of 1,200 to
1,500 mm) whereas the average rainfall in Cao Bang province is 1,666.1 (exceeding this range).

(ii) The amplitude of temperature

Anis produces oil in July and August. The average amplitude of temperature in these months in
Lang Son is much higher than that of Cao Bang province. In July in Lang Son the amplitude of
temperature is 7.8 oC; in Cao Bang: 7.3 oC; in August in Lang Son: 7.6 oC and in Cao Bang: 7.5 oC).
This climate factor makes Lang son anis have better quality compared with other areas.

According to research, the oil content of Lang Son anis is higher than that of other areas (Lang Son
anis 11.04; Quang Ninh anis: 9.41; Cao Bang anis: 7.99).

(iii) Number of days with hoarfrost per year

The number of days with hoarfrost is lowest in comparison with other regions (Lang son: 1.5 days;
Quang Ninh: 3.5 days; Cao Bang: 5.8 days). This condition greatly affects the quality of Lang Son
anis.

2.2 Soil for cultivating anis

According to the results of researches of the soil in Lang Son, the two types of soil, namely the
ACFa and ACFs contain all the factors suitable for the growth and development of anis and ensuring
the quality of anis oil, namely:

− Acidity (PHkcl): 3.35 – 4.66

− Mechanical contents: from average to heaviness;
− Thick layer: above 70 cm

The results of analysis indicate that the Lang Son anis has special quality characteristics compared
with other regions (the total content of oil is high) thanks to the combination of natural, human as
mentioned above. This is reflected in the following table:

Or. Special characteristics Parameters

No

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 1 Types of soil ACFa; ACFs
2 Attitude (m) 200 - 800
3 Thick layer (cm) Above 70
4 Mechanical composition From average to above average
5 Acidity of soil (PH kcl) 3.35 – 4.66
6 Annual average temperature (oC) 2 - 22
7 Annual amplitude of temperature 6.9 – 8.0
8 Annual amplitude of temperature in July (oC)
7.1 – 8.4
o
9 Annual amplitude of temperature in August ( C)
6.9 – 8.3
10 Annual average rainfall (mm) 1,391 – 1,541
11 Annual humidity (%)_ 82 - 83

III. Territorial boundary consistent with the appellation of origin “Lang Son”

The territorial areas corresponding with the appellation of origin “Lang son” are those meeting the
conditions as described in the above table belonging to the following geographic coordinates:

21o39’58” - 22o27’46” North latitude

106o05’35” - 107o03’57” East longitude

The territorial areas are determined by geographical information technology (GIS) so as to identify
the areas satisfying the conditions ensuring the special quality characteristics of Lang Son anis (see
the annex). The territorial areas for Lang Son anis covers 6 districts (the maps are attached), namely:

Or. District Area (ha)

No

1 Bac Son 4,552

2 Binh Gia 14,706

3 Cao Loc 15,225

4 Trang Dinh 7,957

5 Van Lang 4,435

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 6 Van Quan 13,798

7 Total 60,673

Certification by the competent authority

Lang Son, 20 May 2006

The Institute for Agricultural Planning

and Designing certifies that the above data and P/P Director General
information have been taken from the research
results of the Institute of anis flowers and the
anis areas of Lang Son province within the
framework of the project “Establishment and
management rights over appellation of origin
“Lang Son” for anis flowers of the Lang Son
Province. Nong Phuong Dong
Deputy Director General
Director General

Dr. Vu Nang Dung

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