Profile: The herbaceous legume Glycyrrhiza glabra is native to the Middle East, southern Europe, and India. Licorice, sometimes known as liquorice, is a popular sweetening component in herbal tea blends and is frequently used as a flavoring factor in candies. For thousands of years, licorice root has been a significant herb in both Eastern and Western herbal traditions. Licorice root can be used to make licorice tea or licorice extract.

Details: Licorice root is one of the most regularly used herbs in the world, and it is still the most commonly used herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The Egyptians used it to flavor a drink called Mai-sus, and vast quantities were discovered in King Tut's tomb for his journey into the afterlife. It was advised by Pliny the Elder to clarify the voice and relieve thirst and hunger. When marching with Alexander the Great, Dioscides advised his troops to bring and consume licorice to aid stamina during lengthy marches and to quench thirst in drought-stricken areas. It was used in the Middle Ages to counteract the deleterious effects of hot or overcooked food. It was also used to flavor tobacco, as well as in fire extinguishers and beer as a foaming agent.

Licorice was recognized as the 10th most significant herb used in clinical treatment in a recent poll of Western medical herbalists. Licorice is used in a staggering number of Chinese herbal formulations (over 5,000) to sweeten beverages and "harmonize" opposing ingredients. It had first documented use in 190 AD, under the reign of the famous Chinese herbal expert Zhang Zhong Zhing, but it had been used for many centuries before that. Black Vines, the first of a long line of licorice-based modern sweets, was introduced in 1914 by the Chicago Licorice Company. The full sticks and slices can be chewed without chewing gum and have a pleasant flavor.

Glycyrrhiza glabra is also known as Russian licorice, Spanish licorice, or Turkish licorice in comparison to Chinese licorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis).

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