Ural licorice. Licorice glabra, Ural, Korzhinsky, its action and use for various diseases. Medicines, application

Licorice naked - Glycyrrhiza glabra L.

Ural licorice - Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch

Legume family - Fabaceae

Other names:

- smooth licorice

- licorice

- licorice

- licorice root

Botanical characteristics. A perennial herbaceous plant 1-2 m high, with a powerful root system. The rhizome is multi-headed, thick, vertical; from it extend in all directions underdeveloped short, horizontally creeping, underground shoots (stolons) with buds and an unbranched main tap root up to 1 m or more in length, extending from the vertical rhizome and reaching deep aquifers, thanks to which the plant takes root well in arid places. The leaves are compound, imparipinnate, alternate, with 5-7 pairs of leaflets, sticky on the underside. The flowers are light purple, located on long peduncles in spike-shaped racemes. The leaves are oblong-ovate, entire, short-petiolate. The fruit is a bean 2-3 cm long, polyspermous, sometimes with 2-3 seeds, straight, glabrous, brown in color. Ural licorice has a gray fluffy stem up to 1 m long; The leaves are elliptical in shape, covered with glands on the underside. Flower brushes are denser and denser. The flowers are purple. The fruit is a bean, fluffy, gray, bent, lumpy with seeds, covered with small glandular spines. When preparing raw materials, you come across bristly licorice, which is similar in appearance to glabra and differs in the following characteristics: the flowers are crowded into a head, the beans are covered with prickly spines, the roots are white and unsweetened when broken. They do not contain physiologically active substances. Their preparation is unacceptable.

Spreading. Central Asia, Dagestan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, especially along the river. Amu Darya, Azerbaijan, Northern Caucasus, southern Ukraine, Volga region. Ural licorice is more often found in the Southern Urals, Kyrgyzstan, Western and Eastern Siberia, and Kazakhstan. Chardzhou is a base of global importance for the export of licorice root.

Habitat. In steppe areas, near rivers, on sand.

Harvesting, primary processing and drying. Licorice is harvested from March to November, depending on the harvesting area. Commercial harvesting is carried out using a mechanized method - a planting plow with tractor traction. Plow out the root system to a depth of 50-70 cm, up to a maximum of 1 m. First mow the above-ground part. 75% of healthy, light yellow roots and rhizomes are selected, 25% of rhizomes are left in the soil to ensure vegetative propagation and restoration of thickets. Repeated procurement of raw materials in the same area is possible after 6-8 years. After sampling the roots and rhizomes, it is recommended to carry out harrowing and leveling of the layers with a plow (to avoid drying out and spraying of the soil, as well as drying of the rhizomes remaining at the surface), compacting the soil surface with a roller to retain moisture in it and, if possible, watering. In areas inconvenient for mechanized harvesting, roots are dug out by hand.

The dug up roots and rhizomes are separated from the above-ground stems and roots of other plants, shaken off the ground and placed in long and narrow stacks (piles) for drying in the open air. They are shoveled periodically during the drying process. In unfavorable weather conditions, drying can be carried out under canopies or in dryers at a root heating temperature of no higher than 50°C. This produces an unpeeled root. For medical purposes, the most even and fairly thick pieces of fresh or slightly dried roots and rhizomes are cleared of cork with knives manually or with special machines. Before transportation to the procurement point, unpeeled licorice root is placed in stacks 2 m wide and 3 m high, covered with tarpaulin, reeds, reeds or hay.

Security measures. It is necessary to alternate harvesting sites and renew them after 6-8 years, during which the thickets are completely restored.

Standardization. The quality of raw materials is regulated by the requirements of the State Fund X and GOST 22839-77 (for raw materials used for technical purposes, for the food industry and for export).

External signs. Pieces of roots and underground shoots of cylindrical shape of various lengths with a thickness from 0.5 to 5 cm or more. There are pieces of roots that turn into heavily overgrown rhizomes up to 15 cm thick. The surface of unpeeled roots and shoots is slightly longitudinally wrinkled, covered with brown cork; the outside of the peeled raw material is light yellow to brownish-yellow in color with minor remains of cork; the fracture is light yellow, fibrous. Under a magnifying glass, the structure of the roots and underground shoots is tuftless and radiant. The cross section shows numerous medullary rays. Radial cracks are often visible along the medullary rays. The shoots have a small core in the center, the roots do not have one. There is no smell, the taste is sweet, cloying, slightly irritating.

Cut raw materials. Pieces of various shapes for unrefined raw materials from 1 to 10 mm, for purified raw materials - from 3 to 6 mm.

Microscopy. In a microscopic examination of a cross section, wide medullary rays expanding in the secondary cortex and the presence in the secondary cortex of a deformed bast, a group of bast fibers with greatly thickened walls, surrounded by a crystal-bearing lining, are of diagnostic importance. Wood vessels of different diameters are surrounded by groups of sclerenchyma fibers with a crystalline lining.

On a longitudinal-radial section in the bark and wood, long, highly thickened sclerenchyma fibers with a crystalline lining are visible; in wood, narrow vessels are reticulate, medium ones have slit-like pores, wide ones have short barrel-shaped segments and rhombic bordered pores arranged in oblique rows (Fig.).

The powder contains fragments of thin-walled parenchyma, the cells of which contain a large number of starch grains, groups of sclerenchyma fibers of bark and wood, usually with remnants of a crystalline lining, as well as fragments of vessels. When wetted with 80% sulfuric acid, the powder turns orange-yellow (glycyrrhizin).

Numerical indicators. The content of extractive substances extracted with a 0.25% ammonia solution is not less than 25%, glycyrrhizic acid is not less than 6%. In addition, raw materials must meet the following requirements: for whole and cut raw materials, moisture content is not more than 14%; for whole, unrefined raw materials, total ash is no more than 8%; ash, insoluble in a 10% solution of hydrochloric acid, no more than 2.5%; roots, flabby at the fracture, yellow-brown and remains of stems no more than 4%; organic and mineral impurities no more than 1%. For whole purified raw materials: roots poorly cleared of cork, no more than 15% (roots with remains of more than three sections of dark brown plug on one piece or with a diameter of cork residues of more than 10 mm are considered poorly cleaned); roots, darkened and browned on the surface, but light yellow at the break, no more than 20%. For chopped purified raw materials: root particles darkened from the surface, no more than 15%; particles poorly cleaned from cork, no more than 3%; particles larger than 6 mm no more than 10%; particles passing through a sieve with a hole size of 1 mm, no more than 2%. For powder: particles that do not pass through a sieve with a hole size of 0.125 mm, no more than 3%.

Chemical composition. The following were found in underground organs: triterpene saponin - glycyrrhizin (up to 23%), which gives the roots a sweet taste - these are calcium and potassium salts of glycyrrhizic acid, the aglycone of which is glycyrrhetinic (glycyrrhetic) acid, and the carbohydrate part of glycyrrhizin is represented by two molecules of glucuronic acid attached to aglycone at C 3; 27 flavonoids; flavanone and chalcone derivatives (liquiritin, isoliquiritin, etc.); polysaccharides (starch, pectin substances). Rhizomes contain more glycyrrhizin than roots. In addition, pterocarpans, coumestans, stilbenes, neolignans, glycites, cyclitols, and heterocyclic compounds of the furan and pyran group were found.

The aerial part of licorice contains saponins, tannins, flavonoids, and essential oils. This opens up prospects for the use of licorice glabra in medicine as a possible raw material for the creation of drugs with anti-inflammatory, protistocidal, antispasmodic and antiviral effects.

Storage. In a dry place. In warehouses, whole roots are stored in bales, cut roots in plywood boxes, and powder in jars. The shelf life of raw materials is 10 years.

Pharmacological properties. Licorice preparations have multifaceted biological activity. A comprehensive study of the domestic licorice root was carried out by Prof. I. A. Muravyov, K. Z. Zakirov, V. I. Litvinenko. In 1964, the VILR laboratory proved the anti-inflammatory effect of licorice preparations, close to the effect of cortisone. Subsequently, a number of new glycyrrhizic acid derivatives were studied in experiments on rats. It turned out that these drugs have high anti-inflammatory activity, not inferior to the antiphlogistic effect of glucocorticoids and butadione, and in some cases they provide a superior effect. Glycyrrhizic acid preparations inhibit both the exudative and proliferative phases of the inflammatory process. The mechanism of the anti-inflammatory effect of licorice is associated with the stimulating effect of glycyrrhizic acid on the adrenal cortex. It is this pharmacological property of the plant that is considered the most important. Licorice preparations promote the healing of experimental gastric ulcers.

To study the antiallergic properties of licorice preparations, an experimental model of anaphylactic shock in guinea pigs sensitized with ragweed pollen was used. All licorice preparations studied - glycyrrhetinic acid, glycyrenate and Glyciram - prevented death and reduced the severity of anaphylactic shock in animals. The most pronounced inhibitory effect on immediate allergic reactions was given by "Glyciram", which is equal in activity to hydrocortisone. All licorice preparations were more effective with repeated administrations, which made it possible to associate the antiallergic effect of licorice with the suppression of antibody-producing systems.

The antianaphylactic effect of 5% licorice root decoction was studied in 40 guinea pigs sensitized with horse serum. A decoction of licorice root was injected under the skin of 20 guinea pigs, and on the 21st day a permissive dose of horse serum was administered. Administration of licorice root decoction prevented fatal anaphylactic shock in 18 out of 20 experimental animals, while in the control group all 20 animals died.

Licorice root preparations regulate water-salt metabolism, acting like deoxycorticosterone. The discovery of this property significantly increased interest in the plant throughout the world and was repeatedly confirmed in the works of a number of foreign pharmacologists. The effect on the hormonal system can also explain the adaptogen properties also found in licorice root. A fraction was isolated from licorice that showed high estrogenic activity.

In experiments on rabbits with various models of atherosclerosis, licorice root extract has hypolipidemic properties that exceed the similar effects of miscleron and polysponin. The mechanism of anti-sclerotic action is associated with the ability of glycyrrhizic acid, which belongs to triterpene acids, to interact with cholesterol, forming an insoluble complex, and also to inhibit cholesterol biosynthesis. An inhibitory effect of glycyrrham on the development of hyperlipidemia was also discovered.

Glycyrrhizin and foam-forming substances of licorice root - saponins - are associated with an increase in the secretory function of the epithelium of the respiratory tract, a change in the surface-active properties of pulmonary surfactant and a stimulating effect on the function of epithelial cilia. Under the influence of licorice preparations, sputum thins and coughing becomes easier. The sanitizing effect on the respiratory system is supported by the antiviral and antiprotozoal properties of licorice preparations.

The antispasmodic effect on smooth muscles is associated with the action of bioflavonoids. Licorice preparations inhibit the secretion of gastric juice in response to the administration of histamine.

Flavonoid compounds, in addition to their antispasmodic effect, have an anti-inflammatory effect and normalize the permeability of the vascular wall. The most active anti-inflammatory drugs from this group of substances are Liquiriton and Flacarmine.

Preparations from licorice have an antiviral effect, and the greatest antiviral activity is inherent in the herb's saponins, and the sodium salt of glycyrrhetinic acid (glycyrenate isolated from licorice roots) is active against protozoa. The foaming properties of licorice root are used in aerosols, where licorice is a technological aid and at the same time has a therapeutic anti-inflammatory effect.

Licorice herb, which contains a number of biologically active substances, has also been studied pharmacologically. In experiments on decerebrate cats, when licorice herb extract was administered intravenously, a stimulating effect on heart function and an increase in the amplitude of respiratory movements were noted. The herb extract also has a pronounced anti-inflammatory effect in experiments on rats with “kaolin arthritis” when administered orally to the animals.

Medicines. Roots. Powder. Complex licorice powder. Thick and dry extracts. Syrup. The cut root is included in chest, laxative and diuretic preparations. The drug "Glyciram" is an ammonium salt of glycyrrhizic acid. Flavone preparation "Liquiriton" (granules). "Flacarbine."

Application. Licorice is mentioned in Eastern medicine recipes more often than any other plant: it has left even ginseng behind. Licorice root is widely used for diseases of the upper respiratory tract and lungs as an expectorant, emollient and anti-inflammatory agent. The advantage of galenic licorice preparations over individual substances is the combination of glycyrrhizic acid, which has an anti-inflammatory effect, liquiritoside, which has antispasmodic properties, licurazide, which has an anti-inflammatory and bronchodilator effect, and saponins, which dilute bronchial secretions. This explains the popularity of licorice, used in medicinal preparations for acute and chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, bronchial asthma, bronchiectasis and other diseases. For example, from licorice root, anise fruits and pine buds, taken equally, a decoction is prepared, which is taken 1/3 cup 3-4 times a day after meals for 7-10 days.

The drug from licorice roots "Glyciram" is effective in children with bronchial asthma at a dose of 0.2-0.6 g/day. Under the influence of treatment, on the 7-10th day, in most patients, bronchospasm resolves, functional indicators of airway patency improve, and eosinophilia decreases. The course of treatment lasts 3-12 weeks. Glycyram allows you to reduce the dose of hormonal medications in hormone-dependent patients or cancel them. Against the background of clinical improvement, an ACTH test indicates increased activity of the adrenal cortex. No side effects were noted when using licorice preparations.

Galenic forms of licorice root and the drug "Glyciram" are used for diseases associated with hypofunction of the adrenal glands, Addison's disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, pemphigus, chronic skin diseases, allergic diseases; in patients taking steroids for a long time. For eczema, neurodermatitis and allergic dermatitis, local treatment is combined with oral glycyram in tablets of 0.05 g 2-3 times a day. The best results were obtained in patients with eczema and allergic dermatitis. Licorice and preparations made from it are important for practical medicine as an antiallergic agent, since, unlike cortisone, they do not violate physiological protection.

Glycyrrhizic acid gives licorice roots a sweet taste. This allows it to be used in therapeutic nutrition for patients with diabetes. However, the corticosteroid-like effects of glycyrrhizic acid appear to limit its use as a sugar substitute.

For the treatment of patients with gastric and duodenal ulcers, various licorice preparations are used ("Liquiriton", "Flacarbin"), 20% decoction of licorice root, 1/2 cup 3 times a day 40-50 minutes before meals for 3-4 weeks The pain usually disappears on the 5-6th day, appetite improves, and body weight increases. After the course of treatment, the acidity of the gastric contents and the content of pepsin decreases, and the niche symptom disappears in 50% of patients. The highly active estrogenic fraction found in licorice preparations may be involved in the mechanism of antiulcer action.

The antispasmodic effect of licorice preparations also extends to other organs that have smooth muscles (urinary tract, bile ducts, intestines). Glycyrrhizic acid is used for food intoxication, drug and household poisoning, and infectious diseases.

Licorice is included in many medicinal preparations used for gastrointestinal, pulmonary diseases, and kidney pathologies. For example, for kidney pathology, a collection of licorice roots, birch leaves, knotweed grass, and horsetail grass taken equally is used. This complex of herbal remedies provides anti-inflammatory, diuretic, antispasmodic, capillary-strengthening and bacteriostatic effects. Recommended for functional kidney failure, pyelonephritis, cystitis, urolithiasis and in the interictal period to prevent exacerbation.

Thick licorice root extract (Extractum Glycyrrhizae spissum) is a thick mass of brown color with a peculiar smell and sugary-sweet taste. When shaken with water, it forms a colloidal, highly foaming solution. Used as a constituens (shaping agent) in the manufacture of pills.

Dry licorice root extract (Extractum Glycyrrhizae siccum), dry licorice root extract. Brownish-yellow powder with a peculiar odor and sugary-sweet taste. When shaken with water, it forms a colloidal, highly foaming solution. Contains at least 25% glycyrrhizic acid.

Licorice root syrup (Sirupus Glycyrrhizae) is used in pediatrics. Obtained from thick licorice root extract (4 g), sugar syrup (86 g), alcohol (10 g). Yellow-brown liquid with a peculiar smell and taste. Used to correct the taste in mixtures.

Elixir pectoralis. Composition of the drug: licorice root extract 60 parts, anise oil 1 part, ethyl alcohol 49 parts, ammonia solution 10 parts, distilled water 180 parts. It is a brown liquid, sweetish in taste, with the smell of ammonia and anise oil. Used as an expectorant, 20-40 drops per dose. Children are prescribed as many drops as the child is old.

For diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, complex licorice root powder is used. Ingredients: 20 parts licorice root powder, 20 parts senna leaf powder, 10 parts dill fruit powder, 10 parts purified sulfur and 40 parts sugar. The powder is greenish-brown in color with the smell of dill and an unpleasant bitter-salty taste. Used as a mild laxative for chronic constipation.

Glycyramum (Glycyrramum) - the ammonium salt of glycyrrhizic acid, obtained from licorice roots, has an anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effect due to a moderate stimulating effect on the adrenal cortex. Used for bronchial asthma, eczema, allergic dermatitis alone or in combination with corticosteroids, in addition, used to prevent withdrawal syndrome when stopping treatment with corticosteroids. Available in tablets of 0.05 g in packs of 50 pieces. Take tablets orally at 0.05-0.1 g 2-4 times a day 30 minutes before meals. The course of treatment is from 2 weeks to 6 months.

Liquiritonum contains a sum of flavonoids from the roots of Glycyrrhiza glabra or Licorice Uralis. Used for gastric and duodenal ulcers, chronic gastritis as an antispasmodic, antisecretory, anti-inflammatory and promoting regeneration of the mucous membrane. Available in tablets of 0.1 g, prescribed orally 0.1-0.2 g 3-4 times a day 30 minutes before meals. The course of treatment is 20-30 days. The drug is well tolerated by patients.

Flacarbinum is a combined preparation, 100 g of which contains 2 g of lycurazide and quercetin, 10 g of pectin and sodium carboxymethylcellulose and 76 g of glucose. Used as an anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, capillary-strengthening and mild laxative agent in patients with gastric and duodenal ulcers. Produced in greenish-yellow granules with a sweetish taste. Prescribe 1/2 teaspoon of granules orally 3 times a day before meals, wash down with warm water.

An infusion is prepared from dry licorice root at home: place 10 g of the root in an enamel bowl, pour in 200 ml of hot water, heat in a boiling water bath under a tight lid for 15-20 minutes, leave for 40 minutes, filter, squeeze out the remainder, bring with boiled water to initial volume (200 ml). Take 1 tablespoon 4-5 times a day for 10 days.

Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.

Family Legumes, or Moths - Fabaceae (Leguminosae)

Short description. Perennial herbaceous plant. The rhizome is multi-headed and powerful. Stems 40-70(100) cm tall. The leaves are imparipinnate. Leaflets are 4-6 pairs, 1.5-5 cm long, 1-3 cm wide, from oblong-elliptic to ovate. Flowers are 13-20 cm long, numerous, in dense racemes 3-6 cm long, pale purple or lilac. The beans are 2-4 cm long, closely clustered into a dense ball.

Features of ecology, biology and phytocenology. It is found on steppe slopes, saline meadows, railway embankments, and along river banks. Demanding on warmth. Propagated vegetatively and by seeds. Flowering begins in late June - early July and lasts 25-35 days. Fruits in August - early September.

Spreading. Relict of the Paleogene desert flora. In the Irkutsk region it grows in Osinsky (Ust-Osa village), Nukutsky (Nukuty village, Ankurlik village), Ust-Udinsky (Malyshevka village and between the villages of Lobagai and Molka) regions. The species was noted as alien at st. Marituy, Irkutsk district, art. Taiga Shelekhovsky district and in the Solnechny microdistrict of Irkutsk. In the Russian Federation it is also found throughout Siberia in the Tyumen, Kurgan, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo regions, Altai, Krasnoyarsk and Transbaikal territories. Republic of Buryatia. Outside Russia - in Central Asia, Northern China and Mongolia.

Number and status of populations. Licorice population 3 km from the village. Lobagai (between the villages of Lobagai and Molka) occupies a significant area. The population density is 14-16 individuals per 1 m2. Most of the seeds are ripe and undamaged.

Limiting factors. Licorice thickets along the slopes and valleys in the lower reaches of the Osa and Unga rivers were flooded by the waters of the Bratsk Reservoir. The species probably suffers from the collection of rhizomes for medicinal purposes, as well as from plowing and grazing.

Security measures taken and required. One of the locations is located on the territory of the Pribaikalsky National Park, but is considered alien. Special protection measures have not been developed in the Irkutsk region. The species is included in the Red Data Books of the Republics of Altai, Buryatia, and Altai Territory. Kemerovo, Kurgan, Tyumen regions, Chita region and Aginsky Buryat auto. env. . It is grown in many botanical gardens and introduction centers, including the Botanical Garden of Irkutsk State University (Irkutsk). The seeds are deposited in the seed bank of the SIFIBR SB RAS (Irkutsk). It is necessary to limit or prohibit mass harvesting of roots, control the state of populations and organize protected areas in the Upper Angara region.

Information sources: 1 - Red Book of Irkutsk..., 2001; 2 - data of the compiler; 3 - Peshkova, 19726; 4 - Red Book of Ust-Ordynsky..., 2006; 5 - Flora of Central Siberia, 1979; 6 - Herbarium IRK (Irkutsk); 7 - Zarubin, Ivelskaya, Lyakhova, 1989; 8 - Ivanova, 2003; 9 - Herbarium IRKU (Irkutsk); 10 - Flora of Siberia, 19946; 11 - Hamburg, Kazanovsky, 2009; 12 - Malyshev, Peshkova, 1979; 13 - Red Book of the Altai Republic, 14 - Red Book of the Republic of Buryatia, 2002; 15 - Red Book of Altai..., 1998; 16 - Red Book of Kemerovo..., 2000; 17 - Red Book of Kurgan..., 2002; 18 - Red Book of Tyumen..., 2004; 19 - Red Book of Chitinskaya..., 2002; 20 - Kuzevanov, Sizykh, 2005.

Compiled by: O.A. Chernysheva.

Artist: N.V. Stepantsova.

Ural licorice. Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. Legume family.

Perennial herbaceous plant with a powerful root system. The rhizome produces a vertical, light yellow at the break, penetrating several meters, simple or slightly branched tap root.

At a depth of 30-40 cm, horizontal underground shoots 1-2 m long extend from the rhizome in different directions, bearing buds at the ends, from which daughter plants grow.

Stems are erect, unbranched, 40-70 cm high, pubescent.

The leaves are alternate, odd-pinnate, with 4-6 pairs of oblong-ovate leaflets, covered below with down and numerous glands.

The flowers are whitish-violet, moth-like, collected in racemes. Blooms in June-July.

Distributed in the forest-steppe zone, mainly in the Kuznetsk forest-steppe. Grows in saline and steppe meadows, along the banks of rivers and lakes.

Licorice roots contain a sugary-sweet glycoside-like substance glycyrrhizin, which belongs to saponins, flavonoids and among them the yellow glycoside liquiritin, which have an antiulcer effect, large amounts of glucose, sucrose, starch, mucus, gum, ascorbic acid, asparagine, steroids, essential oil, resins and other substances.

Licorice root is one of the oldest medicines. It was used in Chinese medicine a thousand years before the new era and has retained its significance to this day.

Licorice is a classic remedy in Tibetan medicine. Studying 150 Tibetan recipes, Professor A.F. Gammerman discovered back in 1941 that 40 of them included licorice root.

It was known and used by Hippocrates, Theophrastus, and Galen. Theophrastus wrote about him as “a Scythian root from the environs of the Sea of ​​Azov.” Much information about licorice root can be found in the writings of Avicenna.

MEDICINAL PLANTS OF THE USSR AND THEIR APPLICATION

Licorice naked

Drugs

Licorice root extract thick, licorice root extract thick(Extractum Glycyrrhizae spissum).

Extracted from finely chopped licorice root with a 0.25% ammonia solution.

It is a thick mass of brown color with a peculiar smell and a sugary-sweet taste.

When shaken with water, it forms a colloidal, highly foaming solution. Used as constituens in the manufacture of pills.

Licorice root syrup(Sirupus Glycyrrhizae). Thick licorice root extract (4 g) is mixed with 86 g of sugar syrup and 10 g of alcohol is added to the mixture.

PHYTOERGONOMICS: USING PLANTS TO INCREASE PERFORMANCE

Classification of plants used to restore and improve performance

Currently, about two dozen plants are used in scientific medicine as tonics and general strengthening agents for internal use. Meanwhile, among the people; More than 300 species were used for this purpose. This discrepancy between science and practice indicates that major research on tonic plants is still to come. In this regard, we will not describe in detail the most studied plants of the ginseng and coffee group. They are discussed in detail in many reviews and monographs.

We paid the greatest attention to the relationship between the phytochemical composition of little-known tonic plants and their ergogenic activity. In our opinion, only experimentally confirmed information about the presence and influence of certain plant ergogemic substances makes it possible with a high degree of probability to associate their ergogenic effect with the use of the whole plant as a tonic. >>>

Plants containing phytohormones or affecting the endocrine system:

Licorice root is included in Pharmacopoeia X.

Dry licorice root extract and thick licorice root extract are used to prepare various pills and tablets, and root syrup is used to improve the taste of potions.

Breast (licorice) elixir, which contains anise oil, ammonia and alcohol, is prescribed as an expectorant, 20-40 drops per day (for children, the number of drops per dose is determined by the number of their years).

Complex licorice root powder, including senna leaves, fennel fruits, sulfur and sugar, is used as a mild laxative, especially for hemorrhoids.

The root is included in many chest, diuretic and laxative preparations.

In recent years, the diverse properties of licorice roots have been discovered. It turned out that glycyrrhizic acid is close in structure and properties to steroid hormones produced by the adrenal cortex - cortisone and others.

Therefore, licorice affects water-salt metabolism, normalizes impaired mineral metabolism, has an anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effect, enhances the effect of cortisone therapy, and has antidote properties (the ability to inactivate toxic substances in the body).

Thanks to the work of Prof. I. A Muravyova and Ph.D. pharm. Sciences V. L. Ponomarev, new licorice preparations were created and approved for use in medical practice, including glycyrams, prescribed for bronchial asthma, eczema and allergic dermatitis caused by insufficient function of the adrenal cortex, preparations for the treatment of food and various other poisonings, intoxications, caused by colds and some infectious diseases.

For the treatment of peptic ulcers and gastritis with high acidity of gastric juice, the total flavonoid drug liquiriton has been proposed.

Licorice is used for the complex treatment of Adison's disease (adrenal tuberculosis).

Licorice juice is added to ointments and mixtures with antibiotic substances to treat eczema, psoriasis, and lupus erythematosus.

It has been established that licorice has an anticancer effect (delays tumor growth), as well as bactericidal and protitostatic properties.

Licorice belongs to ancient folk medicine.

There are mentions of it in the Ebers papyrus, in the Sumerian tablets, and in the works of ancient Greek scientists.

Hippocrates and Galen used licorice extensively in their medicinal mixtures.

However, in European medicine, the expectorant, emollient and laxative effects of licorice were valued primarily, therefore, with the advent of more effective expectorants and laxatives, it was gradually classified as a minor medicinal plant.

In oriental medicine, licorice occupied and occupies one of the leading places.

Chinese doctors value licorice (“gan-cao” or “hunchir”) almost as much as ginseng, considering it a strong tonic with ginseng-like effects that ensures longevity.

In Tibetan medicine, licorice root is included in many medicines, in particular those intended to treat tuberculosis, heart disease, metabolic disorders, cancer, etc.

In Russian folk medicine, a decoction of the roots is drunk for coughs of various origins, asthma, whooping cough (decoction with milk), and the root powder is sprinkled on diaper rash in children.

With prolonged and excessive use of licorice, diuresis disturbances and swelling may occur.

Contraindicated in hypertension, heart failure, pregnancy and obesity.

The plant is extremely promising medically and requires measures to be taken to preserve it and introduce it into culture.

According to the instructions for the collection and primary processing of licorice root, compiled by P. P. Nadezhdina (collection: “Resources of wild-growing medicinal plants of the USSR.” Leningrad, ed. “Nauka”, 1968, pp. 183-185), rational exploitation of licorice thickets should include the following measures: assignment of all industrial thickets to certain procurement organizations, harvesting of roots using tractor plowing, strict alternation of used thickets with re-harvesting in the same area after 6-8 years, following the extraction of measures to restore the thickets, including harrowing and leveling layers of earth turned up by a plow, rolling the surface with a roller, organizing irrigation, etc.

URAL GORRY - Clycyrrhiza uralense Fisch.
Legume family - Fabaceae Undl.

Ural licorice is a perennial herbaceous rhizomatous plant up to 1 m or more in height. The root system consists of a short rhizome and a main, vertical, light yellow at the fracture, woody root, sweet in taste, reaching groundwater. Numerous horizontal underground shoots extend from the main root - offspring of the second and next orders. Stems are 40-80 cm tall, erect, strong, not branched, bristly-rough, with small dotted glands or glandular spines. The leaves are alternate, compound, imparipinnate, with 5-7 pairs of ovate, glandular-hairy, sticky, especially on the underside, leaflets. The flowers are irregular, moth-type, collected in dense dense axillary racemes, the calyx is bag-shaped and swollen. The corolla is whitish-violet with an elliptical flag, there are 10 stamens, 9 of them are fused with each other, and the tenth is free, the style at the top is bent, with a capitate stigma and an upper ovary. The fruit is polyspermous, linear-oblong, sickle-shaped, transversely sinuous bean, 2-4 cm long, 5-8 mm wide, the walls of the beans are short-haired, seated with glandular stamens. The beans are closely crowded at the tops of the flowering stems and intertwined into dense heads. The seeds are round-reniform, smooth, brownish.

It blooms in June-July, the fruits ripen in August-September. Grows in the south of the European part of Russia, the south of Western Siberia, in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia and the Caucasus, grows in floodplains of rivers, along the banks of irrigation canals and reservoirs, in steppe and meadow areas, including solonetzic ones, in bushes , as well as in the beds of drying rivers, oxbow lakes, in small depressions and depressions. It is usually part of wormwood, fescue, feather grass and reed grass communities, found in groups of plants, and in large thickets in river valleys.

Medicinal raw materials are roots and rhizomes, which are dug up in autumn or early spring. The dug roots are thoroughly cleaned from the ground and, for drying, laid out in a thin, loose layer in a barn or under sheds for 5-7 days, having previously removed roots that have brown or black spots, a putrid smell, flabby, covered with mold, containing pests or traces of their activity. Periodically, the roots are shoveled so that the lower layers of roots are at the top and the upper layers are at the bottom. Then the unpeeled roots and rhizomes are cut into pieces 10-15 cm long and purified licorice root is prepared from the smoothest and thickest pieces, removing the cork layer with a knife until a light yellow or brownish-yellow layer appears (for medicinal purposes it is used as unpeeled licorice roots , and cleared of cork). The final drying of the roots is carried out in warm, well-ventilated rooms or on heated Russian stoves at a temperature not exceeding 50 degrees. C, laying out a layer of 5-7 cm on fabric or paper. A root is considered dried if, when bent, it breaks rather than bends.

It is possible to re-harvest raw materials in the same area only after 6-8 years, since the natural restoration of the licorice plantation due to the partially remaining thin horizontal rhizomes occurs very slowly. In scientific medicine, preparations of Ural licorice are used similarly to licorice glabra as an emollient and expectorant for respiratory diseases, as a gentle laxative, for chronic constipation and hemorrhoids, and also as a means of regulating water-salt metabolism. Crushed licorice root is included in chest, stomach, laxative, and antihemorrhoidal preparations, is used in the manufacture of complex tablets, powders, pills, and is added to medicines for children to sweeten mixtures. Syrup, thick and dry extracts are prepared from the root.

In experiments on animals, it was found that licorice preparations are low-toxic, promote the healing of experimental ulcers, have a diuretic, antispasmodic, anticholinergic, antidote (especially for poisoning with mushrooms and poisonous ones), anti-inflammatory, antiallergic and antihistamine effects. Licorice extracts exhibit anticoagulant and antifibrinolytic properties.

Licorice also exhibits a deoxycorticosteroid-like effect and is recommended as an effective remedy in the complex treatment of Addison's disease, helping to restore water-salt metabolism in the body. Licorice roots and rhizomes are included in the Russian Pharmacopoeia VI-X editions, as well as in the Pharmacopoeia of many countries around the world.

Licorice is one of the oldest medicines, very popular in Eastern medicine. It is mentioned in Oriental medicine recipes more often than any other. Ibn Sina wrote: “Licorice, or licorice root, its squeezed juice, as well as the root (are applied) to nail infections with wax ointment, on fire burns, and the squeezed juice is applied to wounds. (Licorice) softens the pulmonary tube and cleanses it; it is also good for the throat and clears the voice. (Licorice) is useful for burning urine, ulcers of the kidneys and bladder."

Due to the content of a large amount of mucous substances in licorice, it is used with a pronounced effect for various diseases of the upper respiratory tract and lungs as an emollient and expectorant. Licorice root powder is prescribed for bronchial asthma in children, bronchitis, pneumonia, laryngitis, pharyngitis, gastric and duodenal ulcers, erosive gastritis. Licorice root is included in the chest elixir and chest tea, as well as stomachic, diuretic, laxative and soothing teas.

The advantage of galenic licorice preparations over individual substances is the combination of glycyrrhizic acid, which has an anti-inflammatory effect, liquirritoside, which has antispasmodic properties, licurazide, which has an anti-inflammatory and bronchodilator effect, and saponins, which dilute bronchial secretions. This explains the popularity of licorice, used in medicinal preparations for acute and chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, bronchial asthma, bronchiectasis and other diseases. For example, from licorice root, anise fruits and pine buds, taken equally, a decoction is prepared, which is taken 1/3 cup 3-4 times a day after meals for 7-10 days.

The drug made from licorice roots, glythiram, is effective in children with bronchial asthma at a dose of 0.2-0.6 g per day. Under the influence of treatment, on days 7-10, in most patients, bronchospasm resolves, functional indicators of airway patency improve, and zosinophilia decreases. The course of treatment lasts 3-12 weeks. Glythiram allows you to reduce the dose of hormonal medications in hormone-dependent patients or cancel them. Against the background of clinical improvement, an ACTH test indicates an increase in the activity of the adrenal cortex,

According to the literature, there are attempts to use licorice root juice externally in the form of a 2% ointment mixed with antibiotics for the treatment of eczema, lupus erythematosus, and psoriasis, which is obviously due to the presence of glycyrrhizin in licorice. In Tibetan, Chinese, and Mongolian medicine, licorice root is recommended for the treatment of pneumonia, bronchitis, bronchial asthma, emphysema and pulmonary tuberculosis, exudative pleurisy, whooping cough, for regulating digestive processes in gastric ulcers, kidney and gall bladder diseases, anemia, paralysis and atherosclerosis, as a diuretic, anti-inflammatory, for infectious diseases, detoxification, improves metabolic processes, for the treatment of diabetes, hypertension, leprosy and cancer, for headaches, anthrax, smallpox, as part of cardiac medications,

In Mongolia, licorice is used as part of medicinal mixtures - for vomiting, liver echinococcus, and for diseases of the blood and blood vessels. In Chinese and Indian medicine, licorice is used similarly to ginseng roots, but it is especially strongly recommended for use by elderly and elderly people to prolong life.

Extracts and syrups from licorice root are widely used in the production of sweets, marshmallows, various drinks, beer, and for flavoring certain types of chewing and smoking tobacco. When fermenting cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, apples, pears, small pieces of licorice root are added to add a unique taste.

In combination with various mordants, licorice is used in the light industry to dye silk and woolen fabrics yellow, brown and blue. The fibrous stems are used to make ropes. Various industries quite widely use licorice roots in the manufacture of watercolor paints, inks, ink, shoe polishes, ore dressing, and for thickening foaming compounds in foam fire extinguishers.

The medical industry produces the following preparations from licorice root:

1. Thick licorice root extract (Extractum Glycyrrhizae spissum). It is a thick mass of brown color with a peculiar smell and a sugary-sweet taste. When shaken with water, it forms a colloidal, highly foaming solution.

2. Licorice root syrup (Sirupus Glycyrrhizae) is used in pediatrics. Obtained from thick licorice root extract (4 g), sugar syrup (86 g), alcohol (10 g). The liquid is yellowish-brown in color, with a peculiar smell and taste. Used to correct the taste in mixtures.

3. Dry licorice root extract (Exstractum Glycyrrhizae siccum), dry licorice root extract. Brownish-yellow powder with a peculiar odor and sugary-sweet taste. When shaken with water, it forms a colloidal, highly foaming solution. Contains at least 25% glycyrrhizic acid.

4. Elixir pectoralis. Composition of the drug: licorice root extract 60 parts, anise oil 1 part, ethyl alcohol 49 parts, ammonia solution 10 parts, distilled water 180 parts. It is a dark brown liquid, sweetish in taste, with the smell of ammonia and anise oil.

Used as an expectorant, 20-40 drops per dose. Children are prescribed as many drops as the child is old.

For diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, complex licorice root powder is used. Ingredients: 20 parts licorice powder, 20 parts senna leaf powder, 10 parts dill fruit powder, 10 parts purified sulfur and 40 parts sugar. The powder is greenish-brown in color with the smell of dill and an unpleasant bitter-salty taste. Used as a mild laxative for chronic constipation.

5 Glycyramum is used for bronchial asthma, eczema, allergic dermatitis, alone or in combination with corticosteroids, and is also used to prevent withdrawal syndrome when stopping treatment with corticosteroids. Available in tablets of 0.05-0.06 g 2-4 times a day 30 minutes before meals. Course of treatment from 2 weeks to 6 months

6. Liquiriton (Liquntonum) contains a sum of flavonoids from the roots of Glycyrrhiza glabra or Licorice Uralis. Used for gastric and duodenal ulcers, chronic gastritis.

Available in tablets of 0.1 g, prescribed 0.1-0.2 g 3-4 times a day for 20-30 days.

7. Flacarbinum. A combined preparation, 100 g of which contains 2 g of lycuroside and quercetin, 10 g of pectin and sodium carboxymethylcellulose and 76 g of glucose. Used as an anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, capillary-strengthening, mild laxative in patients with gastric and duodenal ulcers. Produced in greenish-yellow granules with a sweetish taste. Prescribe 0.5 teaspoon of granules orally 3 times a day before meals, wash down with warm water.

At home, an infusion of dry root is prepared as follows. 10 g of the root are placed in an enamel bowl, poured with 200 ml of hot water, heated in a boiling water bath under a tight lid for 15-20 minutes, left for 40 minutes, filtered, squeezed out the remainder, brought to the original volume (200 ml) with boiled water. Take 1 tablespoon 4-5 times a day for 10 days.

With prolonged and excessive use of licorice, diuresis disturbances and edema due to hypokalemia may occur. Licorice is contraindicated for hypertension, heart failure, pregnancy and obesity. As research by scientists has shown, swelling when using licorice root and preparations made from it is more pronounced in women, and the tendency to increase blood pressure is more common in men.

Ural licorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis)

Perennial herbaceous plant of the legume family (Fabaceae).

It is not found in the European part of Russia, but it forms thickets in Siberia, where its northern border practically coincides with the border of the forest-steppe until Novosibirsk, which it bypasses somewhat to the south, then small islands of Ural licorice appear near Krasnoyarsk, on the Angara, in the Ulan-Ude region and near borders at the sources of the Shilka River.

Licorice is widely used as a medicinal, ornamental, sand-fixing, food and industrial plant, and as a foaming agent.

Good honey plant and bee bread (Beebread is plant pollen collected by a honey bee, placed in the cells of honeycombs and filled with honey, and preserved by the resulting lactic acid. Protein-carbohydrate food for bees).

Used as a medicinal, ornamental plant and sand fixer.

Ural licorice

Ural licorice is similar in appearance to Glycyrrhiza glabra, but they are clearly distinguished by the type of leaves.

In naked licorice, the leaf segments are smooth, slightly curved downwards along the edge, while in Ural licorice they are strongly wavy. The inflorescences and flowers also differ. The flower clusters of both species are located in the leaf axils.

In licorice glabra, the upper petal of the flower is a “sail”, pointed at the top, while in licorice Ural, it has a notch. The clusters of licorice glabra are sparse, the flowers are mostly blue-violet, sometimes with a whitish bottom of the flag, and the inflorescences of Ural licorice are thick, dense, the corolla of the flower is purple and white, making the inflorescences seem variegated.

The pods of Glycyrrhiza glabra are straight or slightly curved, while those of Ural licorice are strongly curved and wavy. Due to the density of the inflorescences, it seems that they are wound into one dense ball.

Ural licorice

The height of the plant can exceed one meter. The root system includes a short rhizome and a vertical woody root. It reaches groundwater.

The stems of the plant are erect, strong, and range from 40 to 80 centimeters in height.

Licorice is an unpretentious plant. To grow it, you need to select a site with fertile soil. Licorice glabra grows best in partial shade and in places protected from the winds. Licorice easily tolerates both overheating and cooling of the soil, but cannot survive long frosts.

Ural licorice

Licorice preparations such as glycyrrhetinic acid, glycyrenate and Glyciram have anti-allergenic properties. The most pronounced inhibitory effect on allergic reactions is given by “Glycyram”, which is equal in activity to hydrocortisone.

Licorice root preparations regulate water-salt metabolism.
The effect on the hormonal system can also explain the adaptogen properties also found in licorice root. A fraction was isolated from licorice that showed high estrogenic activity.

Licorice root extract has good lipid-lowering properties. The anti-sclerotic effect is attributed to the ability of glycyrrhizic acid to interact with cholesterol, forming an insoluble complex, and also to inhibit the biosynthesis of cholesterol. An inhibitory effect of glycyrrham on the development of hyperlipidemia was also discovered.

Licorice herb, which contains a number of biologically active substances, has also been studied pharmacologically. They stimulate the heart and increase the amplitude of respiratory movements. The herb extract has an anti-inflammatory effect.

Ural licorice

Licorice in the decoction together with ginseng has a noticeable antiarrhythmic effect. When combined with aloe, it treats eczema.

Before using licorice preparations, consult your doctor.

Ural licorice is harvested from March to November. The roots are separated from the stem part. Healthy roots are selected and dried in air.

Sometimes the thick peel is immediately removed from freshly harvested roots.

Landing: Since the seeds have a hard shell that protects their embryo from unfavorable conditions and at the same time makes it difficult to germinate, this shell must be destroyed before sowing.

At the same time, seed germination increases from 35 to 87%.

To destroy the shell, scarification is carried out or the seeds are poured with boiling water so that it covers them and left to cool in the water. Seeds treated in this way germinate quickly.

Sowing of licorice is carried out when the soil at a depth of 1 - 2 cm warms up to 12-14 C. In the first year, licorice seedlings are strongly inhibited by weeds. By the end of 1 year of life, plants usually reach a height of 0.20 m. In winter, it is better not to remove dry leaves of grown plants in order to increase snow retention. Flowering from 2-3 years.