Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) - Botanical Medicines

Licorice ( Glycyrrhiza glabra )

Most Americans are familiar with licorice as the sweet black candy, but in the perennial temperate zones in Asia where it grows, licorice root has been used for its medicinal properties for several thousand years. It was originally used as an expectorant, or a medicine that helps moisten the mucous membranes when a person has a dry cough, bronchitis, or a sore throat.

Recent scientific evidence indicates that licorice is useful in combating bacteria and viruses. Its major components produce interferon which binds to cell surfaces and stimulates the synthesis of proteins that have been shown to inhibit the growth of several human viruses in cell cultures, including herpes simplex type 1. W. Lu reports in the June 1993 issue of the Chinese journal Chung-Kuo Chung Hsi i Chieh Ho Tsa Chih that a licorice extract inhibited HIV activity in 35% of 60 HIV-infected patients. Licorice apparently prevents the suppression of immunity by stress and cortisone, and has displayed antibiotic activity against Staphylococcus , Streptococcus , and Candida albicans .

Double-blind clinical studies have shown that a licorice component (SNMC) is effective in treating viral hepatitis. Dr. S. Acharya, writing in the April 1993 issue of the Indian Journal of Medical Research , reports that 12 of 18 patients with the disease survived after being given SNMC. He cautions, however, that further studies are necessary to standardize the dosage and duration of SNMC therapy.