• Hidemasa Nagai, Yutaka Yamamoto, Yuji Sato, Teruaki Akao, and Tadato Tani.
• Institute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Japan.
• Biol. Pharm. Bull. 2006 Dec 1; 29 (12): 2442-5.

AbstractIn China, the collection of wild Glycyrrhiza uralensis, one of the raw materials of Chinese licorice, has been restricted to prevent desertification. To compensate for the reduced supply of wild Glycyrrhiza plants, cultivation programs of G. uralensis have been initiated in eastern Inner Mongolia. The goal of the present study was to compare the chemical and pharmacological properties of cultivated G. uralensis roots to those of licorice prepared from wild Glycyrrhiza plants. The antispasmodic effect of boiled water extract of 4-year-old cultivated G. uralensis roots and licorice on carbachol-induced contraction in mice jejunum was similar (ED(50): 134+/-21 microg/ml vs. 134+/-16 microg/ml). In addition, glycycoumarin content, which is an antispasmodic and species-specific ingredient of G. uralensis, was similar when comparing the boiled water extracts of 4-year-old cultivated roots and licorice (0.10+/-0.02% vs. 0.10+/-0.06%). These data suggest that cultivated G. uralensis roots may be an adequate replacement for the generation of licorice in the context of the restriction of wild Glycyrrhiza plant collection.

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