Licorice – Scythian tree. Ebers Papyrus, ancient Greek scientist papers mention medicinal use of licorice. Licoricehas been extra popular in Chinese and Tibetan medical product. Since Middle Ages, licorice root is mentioned in all the medical books and lists of drugs as component part of medical substances. Licorice comes from herbaceous plants of Fabaceae family. Rhizome is thick, multi-headed, woody; gives sheer, several meters (up to5 m) deep simple or subramose root and horizontal intricate network of 5-30 creepin stem roots up to 1-2 meters length laying at 30-40 cm depth. The leaves are pinnate, quite often sticky. The flowers are usually lilac, in axillary racemes.The fruit is bean with 1-8 seeds.
Licorice root contains glycyrrhizin and liqueritingly cosides(sweet ammonium salt of glycyrrhizic acid), sucrose, fructose, glucose; mannitol, amarinesness, gums, asparagine, polysaccharides, resins, phenol carboxylicacids, coumarins, flavonoids, tannins, traces of ether oils, higher aliphatic hydrocarbons and fatty acids.
Licorice is used as an expectorant, coating, diuretic and laxative agent. Licorice medical products are used in respiratory diseases, as gentle laxative for chronic constipation and hemorrhoids, as well as water-salt metabolism regulation agents. Crushed licorice root a component part of breast, gastric, laxatives anti-hemorrhoid herbal mixes and is used in complex tablets, powders, pills production, it is added to drugs to sweeten them.
