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The plant

Licorice, also spelled liquorice, is the common name of Glycyrrhiza glabra, a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae. The plant is an herbaceous perennial legume native to West Asia, Tropical Asia, North Africa and Southern Europe. It grows to 1 metre in height and bears its flowers in a loose inflorescence.

The root

A sweet, aromatic flavouring is extracted from the root. Glycyrrhizin is the chief sweet-tasting constituent of the root, and structurally it is a saponin. The scent of the root comes from a complex and variable combination of compounds, of which anethole is some 3% of total volatiles. Anethole contributes a large component of the odor and flavor of anise, fennel, anise myrtle, liquorice, magnolia blossoms and star anise.

Flavour and food uses

Liquorice is used as a flavouring in confectionery, tobacco, beverages and pharmaceuticals. Licorice extract (glycyrrhizin) is approved in the United States, in specified amounts, as a flavor and aroma in manufactured foods, beverages, candies, dietary supplements and seasonings.

History

The genus name comes from the Greek glykyrrhiza, literally 'sweet root'. Licorice has been used in herbal and traditional medicine in both Eastern and Western cultures dating back to beyond 4000 BC. The early Egyptians and Assyrians are known to have cultivated the 'sweet root'.

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