Name: Sweet naked – sweet naked
Licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra); willow tree, licorice root, licorice root, liquorice, liquorice, licorice root; the Legume family (Fabaceae); sweet naked
Valuable medicinal and nutritional properties of licorice roots have been known since ancient times. Traditional Tibetan and Chinese medicine widely use this plant. Licorice comes from the Mediterranean, Asia Minor and Central Asia. Along the Great Silk Road, it got to China and then to Tibet, where it took root well, and then penetrated far beyond the borders of Central Asia, appeared in Western Europe and America, where it had not grown before. People were attracted to sweet roots, and it is not surprising – the saponin glycyrrhizin, which is part of it, is 50 times sweeter than sugar. Therefore, the peeled roots were chewed with great pleasure, because sugar was rare. This custom was preserved until recently in North America, where licorice is called licorice or licorice root.
Sweet gola is a herbaceous perennial with a strong, erect, branched stem covered with glands. Its height is 50-100 (up to 150) cm. The entire plant is covered with short hairs. The root system of licorice is branched, multi-headed: vertical and horizontal rhizomes depart from the mother root, forming a multi-tiered intertwined system. The roots sink into the soil to a depth of up to 8 m. Above-ground shoots depart not only from the mother root, but also from the rhizomes, so one plant occupies an area of up to several tens of square meters. Licorice leaves are pinnate, with 3-8 pairs of leaflets, sticky, petioles pubescent. The leaves are oblong, elliptic or lanceolate, 10-60 mm long. The flowers are white-purple, irregular, collected in 5-8-flowered inflorescences — tassels. Licorice blooms throughout most of the summer. The fruit is a bean,
In Russia, licorice grows in the southern part of the European territory (the coast of the Sea of Azov, the middle and lower part of the Don and Volga basins); in the south of Western Siberia, a related species grows – Ural licorice (G. uralensis), which has a similar effect, but its root is less sweet. Most often, you can see the plant in the steppe, floodplains of steppe rivers, semi-deserts and desert oases. It also grows in Kazakhstan, Central Asia, the Caucasus and Ukraine (on saline areas and coastal slopes in the south of the steppe zone and in the Crimea).
Licorice roots are used to prepare medicines. They are harvested in the spring or autumn, until November, after the aerial part withers. According to the rules, no more than 25% of the plants are dug up at the collection sites, and no more than 75% of the root system is removed from each individual – for the next recovery. Raw materials can be harvested again at the same place no earlier than after 6-8 years. The roots are shaken off the ground, separated from the rest of the stems and roots of other plants, rotten and damaged parts are removed and placed in loose, long and narrow piles (burts). As the top layer dries, the sides are turned over. The dried roots are cleaned from the cork and dried to a brittle state. Raw materials can be dried in special dryers at a temperature not higher than 50 °C.
Dried roots contain up to 23% glycyrrhizin (a mixture of potassium and calcium salts of glycyrrhizic acid), 27 structurally similar flavonoids, sterols, organic acids, coumarins, essential oil, vitamin C (10-30 mg%) and other compounds.
Licorice roots are widely used in scientific and traditional medicine, and scientific medicine uses them to create patented products. These include: “Liquiriton” – an anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and antiseptic agent used for the treatment of peptic ulcer disease of the stomach and duodenum, as well as hyperacid gastritis; “Flakarbin” – it is also used to treat peptic ulcer disease; “Glyciram” is an anti-inflammatory agent used for bronchial asthma, allergic dermatitis and to improve the function of the adrenal cortex. Licorice roots are included in the chest elixir (an expectorant and emollient) as a component, and thick and dry extracts are obtained from them, which are necessary for the preparation of various medicinal forms.
In Chinese and Indian folk medicine, licorice is a very well-known and respected remedy. Traditional healers believe that the effect of the plant is similar to that of ginseng, so in some areas of China it is used as a means of rejuvenating the body.
Licorice root is part of many medicines because it improves their main effect. In the food industry, the plant is added to confectionery and drinks for sweetening.
Licorice roots are also used to make high-quality mascara, ink, and watercolor paints. When enriching ores by the flotation method, ground roots are used as a foaming agent.
With various mordants, licorice is used when dyeing wool and silk in yellow, brown and blue colors. The stems of the plant are suitable for obtaining a fairly strong fiber from which ropes are made.
Infusion of roots. 10 g (1 tablespoon) of crushed raw materials per 200 ml of boiling water. Insist for 15-25 minutes, filter. Take 1 tablespoon 3-4 times a day as an expectorant and emollient.
Long-term use of plant products can cause a violation of the water-electrolyte balance and lead to the appearance of edema.