liquorice root

Liquorice (British English) or licorice (American English) ( ; also ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring can be extracted.

The liquorice plant is an herbaceous perennial legume native to Western Asia, North Africa, and Southern Europe. Botanically, it is not closely related to anise or fennel, which are sources of similar flavouring compounds. (Another such source, star anise, is even more distantly related from anise and fennel than liquorice, despite its similar common name.) Liquorice is used as a flavouring in candies and tobacco, particularly in some European and West Asian countries.

Liquorice extracts have been used in herbalism and traditional medicine. Excessive consumption of liquorice (more than per day of pure glycyrrhizinic acid, a liquorice component) may result in adverse effects, and overconsumption should be suspected clinically in patients presenting with otherwise unexplained hypokalemia and muscle weakness. In at least one case, death has been attributed to excessive liquorice consumption.

Etymology

The word ''liquorice'', or ''licorice'', is derived via the Anglo-French , from Late Latin , itself ultimately derived from Greek grc, γλυκύρριζα, glykyrrhiza, label=none (the Modern Greek spelling of the genus is el, γλυκόριζα, glykoriza, label=none) literally meaning 'sweet root' and referring to ''Glycyrrhiza glabra''.

The Late Latin form is a corruption of the older form , as attested in Pliny's latinization of the Greek. The latter gives the plant's binomial name with ''glabra'' meaning 'smooth' and referring to the plant's smooth husks; the former came to being via the influence of , 'to become fluid', reflecting the method of extraction of the sweet stuff from the roots.

, its English common name is spelled 'liquorice' in most of the Commonwealth, but 'licorice' in the United States.

Description

Liquorice is a herbaceous perennial, growing to in height, with pinnate leaves about long, with 9–17 leaflets. The flowers are long, purple to pale whitish blue, produced in a loose inflorescence. The fruit is an oblong pod, long, containing several seeds.Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. The roots are stoloniferous.

Chemistry

The scent of liquorice root comes from a complex and variable combination of compounds, of which anethole is up to 3% of total volatiles. Much of the sweetness in liquorice comes from glycyrrhizin, which has 30–50 times the sweetness of sugar. The sweetness is different from sugar, being less instant, tart, and lasting longer.

The isoflavene glabrene and the isoflavane glabridin, found in the roots of liquorice, are phytoestrogens.

Cultivation and uses

Liquorice grows best in well-drained soils in deep valleys with full sun. It is harvested in the autumn two to three years after planting. Countries producing liquorice include India, Iran, Italy, Afghanistan, China, Pakistan ( in Urdu