Dr. Zhongzhen Zhao

Hong Kong Baptist University, 7 Baptist University Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

Dr. Li LIANG

Hong Kong Baptist University, 7 Baptist University Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

Licorice is known as the “Minister of the Country”, which shows the high status of licorice in traditional Chinese medicine.
Licorice we consume comes from the roots and rhizomes of species of the genus Glycyrrhiza in the Fabaceae family. Currently, three species of licorice are recorded in the “Chinese Pharmacopoeia” as medicinal resources, namely Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch., G. inflata Bat., and Glycyrrhiza glabra L. G. uralensis is also called Ural licorice. The name brings to mind the Ural Mountains and the Ural River on the dividing line between Europe and Asia. G. glabra is the species most commonly used.

Licorice has a long history in both Eastern and Western cultures. In addition to medicinal purposes, licorice is also eaten and used as an additive in foods, particularly preserved fruits and tobacco. 
In some European countries, the fresh and dried roots are simply chewed as a snack. For Chinese medicine, the roots and rhizomes can be used medicinally in raw or processed form. 
In the Compendium of Materia Medica, licorice is recorded in the “mountain herb” category. It is so commonly used that in traditional Chinese medicine, there is a saying that roughly translates as, “ten prescriptions, nine with licorice”. 
Licorice is of great importance as a harmonizer in Chinese medicine formulas. Indeed, if there is a single word that can represent licorice, it should be harmony. Licorice coordinates and harmonizes the other ingredients in a formula so that they work together to achieve therapeutic effects. “Harmony” is also a concentrated expression of the core spirit of Chinese traditional culture. Harmony in a family can bring prosperity, and harmony in a formula can cure all diseases.
Another function of licorice concerns side effects. Regardless of whether any medicine–Chinese or Western– is effective, we should pay attention to whether there are any side effects.
Licorice can moderate the strong, sometimes toxic, properties of other medicines. There is a saying that the reason traditional Chinese medicine has less toxicity and fewer side effects than other medicines is that licorice is found in almost all traditional Chinese medicinal formulas. Zhen Quan in the Tang Dynasty described it more specifically in “The Nature of Medicine (Yao Xing Fu)”, that licorice can detoxify 1200 kinds of plants and trees. Although 1200 sounds like an exaggeration, the results of modern pharmacological research and clinical practice are now showing that licorice does have a certain detoxification effect on a wide variety of drugs and food toxins.

Licorice as Protagonist

In addition to harmonizing the nature of other medicinals, licorice has its own unique medicinal properties. Licorice can not only play a supporting role, but also be a protagonist—perhaps even a hero.

Licorice was first recorded in “Shen Nong’s Materia Medica (Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing)” and was listed as an “upper rank” herb. In Chinese medicine, this term refers to tonic medicines that nourish the body, prolong life, and can be used safely for a long time. According to traditional Chinese medicine theory, licorice supplements the spleen, boosts Qi, clears heat, resolves toxins, dispels phlegm, and relieves cough.
Licorice mainly boosts the Qi of the heart and spleen. For example, the representative formula for Qi-boosting is Si Jun Zi Decoction. In this formula, processed licorice, ginseng, Atractylodes, and Poria are used to tonify spleen-stomach Qi deficiency.
Another representative formula, Zhi Gan Cao Decoction, is for supplementing the heart Qi; it is also known as Fu Mai Decoction. It can restore the pulse, stop heart palpitations, nourish yin, and nourish blood. In this formula, licorice is in processed form. The processed licorice originally used was equivalent to stir-fried licorice, which means the cut medicinal materials are dry-roasted in an open pan. Nowadays, it is more common to use honey-fried licorice; in this case the licorice is similarly roasted, but with the addition of honey.
Gan Mai Da Zao Decoction nourishes the heart and calms the mind. It is commonly used in the treatment of menopausal syndrome, also known as perimenopausal syndrome. Menopause symptoms in gynecology are experienced by almost every woman, but the degree varies. I have an American friend who was suffering from menopause and felt very uncomfortable. She told me about her symptoms, and I recommended Gan Mai Da Zao Decoction. There are only three herbs in this formula: licorice (“Gan”), blighted wheat (“Mai”) and jujube (“Da Zao”). This friend has taken it a few times and it was very effective. Her symptoms were very typical, and Gan Mai Da Zao Decoction is just the right formula to relieve them. 
Both Chinese and Western medicine use licorice, particularly to remove phlegm and relieve a cough.
I was weak when I was a child, and I often had a cold or a cough. My father was a Western doctor, and he often prescribed licorice tablets and compound licorice syrup for me.
The sweetness of licorice comes from glycyrrhizin, one of the main active ingredients of licorice. In Western medicine, glycyrrhizin is used as an expectorant, as well as a flavoring agent and a binding agent in pharmaceuticals. Glycyrrhizic acid and salts of glycyrrhizinate acid such as ammonium glycyrrhizinate and zinc glycyrrhizinate can also be used to treat chronic hepatitis.
While licorice has a wide range of uses, too much may cause side effects. An overdose will affect the metabolism of potassium ions and sodium ions in the body, and symptoms such as edema may occur.

Production

China is one of the main producers of licorice. Licorice is cultivated across almost the entire northern part of China, including the northeast, north and northwest regions. Among them, inner Mongolia and Ningxia are the most productive areas for licorice.

The ancients discussed the original production area of licorice. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the “Bielu of Famous Doctors” records that licorice was growing in today’s Hexi Corridor and Shaanxi Province, China. Li Shizhen described: “The branches and leaves of licorice are like the locust tree… Licorice is produced along the east and west sides of the Yellow River (mainly referred to Shanxi and Shaanxi today)”. This is true!  Both licorice and locust are in the Fabaceae family, so their leaves and flowers look similar, even though their growing habits are different. Due to the lack of knowledge of the licorice resources in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and foreign countries in ancient times, there is no record of licorice in these areas in the ancient Chinese medicine books.
Licorice mainly grows in semi-desert areas, and its underground root is deep and extremely well developed. This means the plant itself is valuable as a windbreak to prevent soil erosion, in addition to producing a valuable crop.
Although the distribution area of licorice in China is not small, the resources are relatively limited now. Over-harvesting caused a sharp decrease in its wild resources, and over-grazing slowed down its growth. At the same time, over the past few years, there has been an increasing demand for licorice. As a result, there is a huge gap between supply and demand.

King of Licorice
Professor Wang Wenquan, known as the “King of Licorice in China”, has been doing research on traditional Chinese medicine resources for many years. Agriculture is his specialty, and he has been studying licorice for more than 30 years. 

In the past ten years, I have conducted many field investigations with Professor Wang. We have been to the Ordos Plateau where Genghis Khan fought. The licorice there grows very well. The skin of its root is as red and shiny as a jujube, the texture is brittle, and the cross-section is bright yellow and white. There I even saw a large licorice root that was more than 2 meters long.

Professor Wenquan Wang has visited Central Asia, Kazakhstan and other places where licorice and its relatives grow. He told me that there are about 20 species in the Glycyrrhiza genus in the world. They are distributed all over the world, with the greatest number of species in Eurasia and the greatest number of plants in central Asia. In addition, licorice grows throughout Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
Now China has started to import licorice from these countries. However, in the long run, artificial cultivation should be strengthened, in order to bridge the gap between supply and demand, as well as protect the wild recourses.
In 2004, when we compiled the Encyclopeida of Medicinal Plants, we did a statistical analysis. At that time, we found that more than 6,000 research papers on licorice had been published in international journals. Licorice is not only one of the most used medicinal herbs in ancient formulas, but also one of the most studied medicines in modern research.
Licorice has a high status, a great amount of usage, a wide range of applications, and unlimited potential. 

甘草——國老調和岐黃草 

趙中振，博士，香港浸會大學，香港九龍塘浸會大學道7號, 

梁鸝，博士，香港浸會大學，香港九龍塘浸會大學道7號, 

甘草素有“國老”之稱，國之元老、國之重臣，可見甘草在中醫藥王國中的地位之高。

甘草植物學 Botany

現在《中國藥典》收載了豆科三種甘草入藥，有甘草Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.、脹果甘草Glycyrrhiza inflata Bat.和光果甘草Glycyrrhiza glabra L.。這三種植物作為中藥甘草的正品原植物來源種，以乾燥根和根莖入藥。其中第一個品種，我們又稱其為烏拉爾甘草。這個名字會讓人聯想到歐亞兩洲分界線的烏拉爾山脈、烏拉爾河。

甘草使用 Uses 

甘草在東西方文化中均有著悠久的歷史。除了藥用以外，甘草還是食品、煙草、日用化工等方面的原料和添加劑。

在一些歐洲國家，新鮮和乾燥的甘草根被簡單地作為零食咀嚼。 而在中醫藥領域，甘草的根和根莖可以生品或炮製品的形式藥用。

調和諸藥 Licorice as Harmonizer

在《本草綱目》中，甘草被分類在山草類。中藥中有“十方九草”的說法，也就是十個方子裡九個有甘草。甘草在方劑裡起著“和事佬”的作用，中醫一張張處方裡的各味藥能在甘草的協調之下，和諧相處，共同作戰。如若用一個字來代表甘草，我的理解就是和諧的和。“和”也是我國傳統文化核心精神的集中體現。家和萬事興，方和百病除。

吃中藥和吃西藥一樣，不僅要關心有沒有效，還要注意有沒有毒副作用。

甘草還有一個重要功能就是調和諸藥，它能緩和其它藥物的烈性。

甚至還有一種說法，中藥之所以毒副作用小，幾乎中藥複方中都有甘草。唐代甄權在《藥性論》中講述得更具體，甘草能解1200種草木之毒。1200種——聽上去有些誇張。現代的藥理研究和臨床實踐結果也表明，甘草確實對多種藥物和食物的毒素有一定的化解作用。

國老功用

甘草除了可以調和諸藥外，它也有著自身獨特的功效。甘草不僅能當配角如魚得水，它當主角也是手到擒來。甘草始載于《神農本草經》，被列為上品。中醫理論認為，甘草補脾益氣，清熱解毒，祛痰止咳。

甘草補氣主要補的是心氣和脾氣。比如，補氣代表方有四君子湯，方歌是：“四君子湯中和義，參術茯苓甘草比。”炙甘草和人參、白術、茯苓一起用，主脾胃氣虛。

補心氣還有一個代表方是《傷寒論》中的炙甘草湯，又叫複脈湯。顧名思義，可以恢復脈搏、止心悸，滋陰養血。在這條方中，甘草是要用炙過的甘草，經考證，當時的炙甘草相當於清炒甘草，現在則多用蜜炙的甘草。

再有常用方甘麥大棗湯，具有養心安神的功效。常用於治療更年期綜合症，又叫圍絕經期綜合症。婦科的更年期症狀每位元女士都會經歷，只是反應程度各有輕重。我有一個美國朋友正處於更年期，身體很不舒適。她跟我訴說了她的症狀，我推薦了甘麥大棗湯。方子中只有三味藥：甘草、大棗、浮小麥。這位朋友服用了幾次，非常見效。她的症狀十分典型，甘麥大棗湯正好對症下藥，我們老祖宗留下的這個方子太適用了。

中西兼用 Licorice in Chinese and Western medicine

針對甘草祛痰止咳的功效，不光是中醫用，西醫也在用。

我從小身體不好，經常感冒、咳嗽。父親是西醫，他常給我開甘草片、讓我喝複方甘草糖漿。

甘草的甜味來自於甘草甜素，這也是甘草主要有效成分之一。西醫用甘草甜素當作祛痰藥，也可作為藥劑裡面的矯味劑和黏合劑等。甘草酸及其它的多種鹽類如甘草酸銨、甘草酸鋅，還可以用於治療慢性肝炎。

甘草是中西兼用的，用途廣泛，但用得過多也會產生副作用。過量服用會影響體內鉀離子與鈉離子的代謝，可能出現浮腫等症狀。

天外有天

我國是甘草主產國之一，國產藥用甘草的分佈幾乎橫跨整個中國北方，東北、華北和西北地方都有，其中甘草分佈最廣、產量最大的地區在內蒙和寧夏。
對於甘草的產地，古人已經有論述。南北朝時期的《名醫別錄》記載甘草生長在今天河西走廊和陝西一帶。李時珍形容：“甘草枝葉悉如槐……子扁如小豆，極堅硬，齒齧不破，今出河東西界。”由於古代對內蒙、新疆地區及國外的甘草資源還不夠瞭解，所以本草古籍中並沒有對這些地區甘草的記載。

中國甘草資源分佈區雖不算小，但畢竟是一種有限的植物資源。過去這些年，人們對甘草需求量越來越大。過度採挖造成野生甘草分佈急劇減少，過度放牧也會使甘草生長緩慢，資源退化。

甘草之王 King of Licorice

有“中國甘草王”之稱的王文全教授，一直在做中藥資源研究。他學農出身，與甘草打了三十多年交道。過去十幾年，我也同王文全教授一起跑了不少野外，還去過成吉思汗征戰過的鄂爾多斯高原。那裡的甘草長得實在好，外皮呈棗紅色，而且還有光澤，質地脆、容易折斷，斷面黃白色，特別鮮豔。在那裡我甚至見到了2米多長的大甘草。

王文全教授曾深入中亞哈薩克等地考察，他告訴我，甘草屬(Glycyrrhiza)植物全世界約有20種，遍佈全球各大洲，以歐亞大陸最多，又以亞洲中部分佈得最為集中。除了巴基斯坦之外，土庫曼斯坦、塔吉克斯坦、吉爾吉斯斯坦還有烏茲別克斯坦分佈的甘草也為頗多。
現在我們國家已經開始從這些國家進口甘草。但是，從長遠考慮，應加強人工栽培，這樣才能從根本上解決資源開發與資源保護之間的矛盾。

2004年，我們在編撰《當代藥用植物典》的時候，曾經做過一個統計，當時海內外甘草的研究論文已經有6000多篇。甘草不僅是古代處方中使用最多的藥材之一，也是現代研究中最受關注的藥物之一。
甘草有崇高的地位，巨大的用量，廣泛的應用，無限的潛力。