What's Inside the Root?

Both Glycyrrhiza glabra and Glycyrrhiza uralensis consist of many active components such triterpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, coumarin derivatives, isoflavanoids and chalcones, all of which interact to provide the medicinal effects of licorice (Chan et al., 2010). But the main active component which most of the current research on licorice has been focused on is the triterpene Glycyrrrhizic acid, also known as glycyrrhizin (Chan et al., 2010).

Structure of glycyrrhizin- http://www.sweetenerbook.com/images/glycyrrhizin.gif

As licorice root is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine as a guide drug to enhance the effect of other supplements (Kitagawa, 2002), it requires several processing procedures in order to achieve its medicinal potential and to improve its pharmaceutical functions (Kitagawa, 2002). These include physical processes such as peeling of the outer layers, water processing which involves soaking and washing the root, fire processes such as burning and broiling, and finally a combination of these processes which include steaming the root (Kitagawa, 2002). Once this is complete, the root is air dried  (Kitagawa, 2002) and usually ingested as an extract which is created by boiling the root and consuming the resulting water (Isbrucker et al, 2006).