Smooth Licorice
Smooth licorice is a member of the legume family, and its Latin name is Glycyrrhiza glabra L.
As for the family name itself, the Latin name is Fabaceae Lindl. (Leguminosae Juss.).
Description of Smooth Licorice
Smooth licorice is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches a height of one and a half meters. This plant has a fairly robust root system. Smooth licorice stems are sparsely branched, and the leaves are odd-pinnate with eleven to fifteen leaflets. These leaves are alternate and covered with sticky hairs. The flowers of this plant are collected in clusters, colored blue-violet, and are very decorative.
Smooth licorice blooms in June. The fruit is a leathery, brown pod. In the wild, this plant can be found in Central Asia, the North Caucasus, and the southeastern European part of the former Soviet Union. Smooth licorice is cultivated for its root.
Description of the medicinal properties of smooth licorice
Smooth licorice has valuable medicinal properties, and its roots are recommended for medicinal purposes. These valuable medicinal properties are explained by the roots’ content of malic acid, traces of essential oil, starch, gum, bitterness, sucrose, tannins, asparagine, glucose, mannitol, the bittersweet glycoside glycyrrhizin, and the glycoside liquiritin.
Preparations based on smooth licorice roots are indicated for use as anti-inflammatory, demulcent, anti-allergic, and expectorant agents. These highly effective remedies should also be used for various upper respiratory tract conditions, especially in the elderly and children.
Licorice root is used for systemic lupus, enterocolitis, hyperacidity of gastric juice, pemphigus, peptic ulcers, chronic gastritis, and various allergic dermatitis. Interestingly, the roots of this plant are included in a chest elixir. This remedy is used as an expectorant: it is taken several times daily, twenty to forty drops. For children, the number of drops is determined by their age.
In addition, smooth licorice root is also present in diuretic tea. Also, the extract of the root of this plant is quite suitable for making pills, and syrup based on the root of licorice smooth is used to correct the taste in various mixtures.
As an antiallergic, expectorant, anti-inflammatory and enveloping agent, it is recommended to use the following remedy based on this plant: to prepare such a medicine, you will need to take one tablespoon of smooth licorice root and pour it into a thermos with one full glass of boiling water. After this, the resulting medicinal mixture should be left to infuse for about three to five hours, then this mixture based on smooth licorice must be filtered very carefully. Take the resulting medicinal product based on this plant, one full tablespoon three to four times a day, regardless of meals. If used correctly, this healing remedy based on smooth licorice will be very effective, and a positive result will be noticeable quite quickly.
