Fennel seeds nutritional value per 100g: calories, protein and GI

The table below shows fennel seeds nutrition per 100 g of raw, dried seed from the USDA FoodData Central record for fennel seed (FDC ID 171323), beside ajwain and cumin seeds from IFCT 2017; IFCT 2017 carries no fennel entry, so the saunf column is USDA's. Read the numbers as the seed's full store, not as a serving: 100 g of saunf works out to about 50 teaspoons, far more than anyone eats in a day, and the per-teaspoon section below does the honest arithmetic.

Three figures stand out on the fennel column: 39.8 g of fibre, 1200 mg of calcium and 345 kcal of energy. The fibre makes up the larger part of the 52.3 g of carbohydrate. Fat is 14.9 g, the lowest of the three seeds on this table, and protein 15.8 g. The neighbours sit on different bases — ajwain and cumin from IFCT 2017, fennel from the USDA record — so read the three columns as three whole seeds, not as one standard.

Per 100 g raw, edible portion. Composition: USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy), FDC ID 171323, NDB 2018; IFCT 2017 (ICMR-NIN). — means not reported. These are average values for the food; the label on a pack gives the values for that product.

Nobody eats 100 g of saunf at a sitting; the real measures are the pinch and the spoon. One teaspoon of whole fennel seeds (about 2 g) gives roughly 7 kcal, 0.3 g of protein, 0.3 g of fat, 1.0 g of carbohydrate and 0.8 g of fibre, plus 24 mg of calcium and 0.4 mg of iron. One tablespoon (6 g) triples those amounts: 21 kcal, 0.9 g of protein, 0.9 g of fat, 3.1 g of carbohydrate, 2.4 g of fibre, 72 mg of calcium and 1.1 mg of iron.

The tablespoon is the amount the saunf tea recipe brews for a two-cup pot, and the thandai recipe uses two of them across four glasses of milk. A mouth-freshener pinch is smaller still, a fraction of a teaspoon, so its numbers shrink again.

On protein fennel and ajwain nearly tie, with cumin a little below: fennel carries 15.8 g per 100 g, ajwain 15.9 g and cumin 13.9 g. Fibre is where fennel pulls ahead: 39.8 g against cumin's 30.35 g and ajwain's 20.58 g, about 1.3 times cumin's figure and 1.9 times ajwain's. On fat the order turns around: fennel lowest at 14.9 g, cumin 16.64 g and ajwain 21.11 g. On iron cumin leads with 20.58 mg to fennel's 18.5 mg and ajwain's 13.65 mg, and on calcium fennel is ahead, 1200 mg to ajwain's 1034 mg and cumin's 878 mg.

Keep the scale honest before drawing conclusions: these are per-100 g values, and all three seeds are eaten in pinches and teaspoons. The gaps above are real in the seed but nearly vanish in a 2 g spoon, and none of the three is therefore called a protein source or a mineral supplement. For what each nutrient does, the fennel seeds benefits page takes it from here.

There is no glycemic index figure to quote for fennel seeds. The USDA record lists no GI value for them, and IFCT 2017, which supplies the ajwain and cumin columns, carries no fennel entry at all, so no GI figure is given. GI measures carbohydrate foods eaten in meaningful amounts, and saunf is eaten a teaspoon at a time, so the question barely fits the seed in the first place. What the record does list is 52.3 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, the larger part of it the 39.8 g of fibre.

For people with diabetes, the honest position follows: fennel research is largely in vitro and in vivo work, so no human evidence in the references supports eating saunf for a glucose effect. Saunf is a flavouring, and its 2 g teaspoon carries about 1.0 g of carbohydrate. If you have diabetes and want to know where saunf fits your meals, talk to your doctor or dietitian. The fennel seeds hub covers the seed's other sides.

Per 100 g the USDA record lists 1200 mg of calcium, 18.5 mg of iron, 385 mg of magnesium, 1690 mg of potassium, 3.7 mg of zinc, 88 mg of sodium and 21 mg of vitamin C; folate is not reported. Calcium is the headline: 1200 mg is a striking figure for a spice, and it is also a reminder to read per-100 g values at serving size, because the 2 g teaspoon delivers 24 mg — a real but modest amount. Iron works the same way: 18.5 mg per 100 g becomes 0.4 mg in the spoon.

Those per-spoon figures are why saunf is not a meaningful mineral source in the amounts people actually eat. The seed's contribution to a meal is its sweet, refreshing flavour, not a micronutrient top-up. What a teaspoon or two a day amounts to is set out on the saunf how to use guide.

A daily saunf habit is a teaspoon or less — chewed after a meal, brewed into tea or soaked overnight as saunf water — and that teaspoon (about 2 g) comes to roughly 7 kcal and 0.8 g of fibre. The per-100 g table above is the seed's full store; the spoon is what you actually eat. That gap is the point Opara and Chohan's 2014 review makes: spices are normally eaten in small quantities and with other foods, which makes any true health benefit hard to establish. The fennel-specific review, published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition in 2024, covers the seed's composition, its functional properties and its safety, and its findings sit on the fennel seeds benefits page.

For buying, one food record stands behind every kind of saunf, so freshness decides the choice, not variety: bright-green, even-coloured whole seeds. The which fennel seeds are good guide compares the shop kinds.

Does saunf have sugar?

The USDA record lists no sugar figure for fennel seeds, so there is no sugar number to quote. What the record does list is 52.3 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, of which 39.8 g is fibre; the rest is other carbohydrate. A teaspoon of saunf (about 2 g) carries about 1.0 g of carbohydrate in all. Saunf tastes sweet, but at the spoon the sweetness is flavour, not a sugar load.

Is fennel seeds good for diabetes?

There is no human evidence to say so. The USDA record lists no glycemic index for fennel seeds, and fennel research is largely in vitro and in vivo work, so nothing in the references supports everyday saunf changing blood sugar. What is sure: a 2 g teaspoon carries about 1.0 g of carbohydrate and 7 kcal. Keep saunf a flavouring, and settle any diabetes question with your doctor or dietitian.

Why saunf is eaten after food?

For the flavour. Saunf is mildly sweet and leaves a fresh taste, which is why a pinch after a meal is India's everyday mouth freshener; the numbers stay tiny, about 7 kcal and 1.0 g of carbohydrate for a teaspoon (roughly 2 g). It adds little to a finished meal. The habit is Indian and the reason is taste, while the studies behind any digestion reputation are mostly preclinical.

Is saunf good for health?

As a food, yes: the seed's nutrition figures are real, with 39.8 g fibre and 1200 mg calcium per 100 g, but a teaspoon delivers only 0.8 g fibre and 24 mg calcium, and the 2014 Opara and Chohan review adds that doses this small make a true health benefit hard to pin down. Judge saunf by its flavour and freshness, and read the fuller evidence on the fennel seeds benefits page.

Which fennel seeds are good?

Freshness decides, not variety: one USDA record stands behind every kind of saunf, so no kind carries different nutrition numbers. Pick bright-green, even-coloured whole seeds with a clean sweet smell, and keep them airtight. The two shop kinds — the small cooking seed and the plump chewing seed — are compared on the which fennel seeds are good guide.