• Licorice is a plant of ancient origin, steeped in history, and
has been medicinally used for more than 4000 years. It is a
component of many traditional medical systems. Hippocrates in
400 BC mentioned it as a remedy for referred to as "anis"
because of its similarity in taste with haras (fennel). •
Glycyrrhiza is Greek-derived, meaning "sweet root" and
Glycyrrhiza glabra means sweet root with hairless seed pods. •
The dried, peeled or unpeeled underground stems and roots
constitute the drug known as Licorice. Licorice is a perennial
plant, growing about 1.5 meter high. The wrinkled and woody
rootstock is brown outside and yellow inside; sweet-tasting.
Leaves are unequally branched, in 4-7 pairs. Flowers are pale
blue, violet, yellowish-white or purplish in color, arising from
the axils of the leaves in racemes or spikes, followed by pods.
Pods are smooth and small, resembling a partly-grown peapod,
compressed with many - Nowhere spontaneous. - Native of
southeast Europe and southwest Asia. - Study yielded