Pharmaceutical name:

Radix Glycyrrhizae Uralensis

Latin botanical name:

Glycyrrhiza glabra L. var. glandulifera, Rega

Pron. in Japanese:

 kanzo

Pron. in Korean:

감초 kam ch'o

Pron. in Cantonese:

 kam ch'o 

Common Name:

Licorice root

Distribution:

It is mainly produced in Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Hebei, Qinghai and Zinjiang .

Properties (characteristics)

Sweet in smell and peculiarly sweet in taste. It is about five hundred times the sweetness of cane sugar.

Channels (meridians) entered:

all 12 channels, mainly the heart, lung, spleen and stomach channels.

Actions & Indications:

tonifies pi (spleen), enhances qi, clears heat, rids of toxins, expels phlegm and stops cough, stops pain, synergizes other herbs. Being used in spleen and stomach weakness, tired and lack of strength, palpitation and short of breath, cough with abundance of phlegm, stomach and solar plexus pain, spastic painful limbs, boils, to reduce toxicity of other herbs.

Medical Function:

1. adrenocortical hormone function

    As early as 1946 gan cao extract showed the characteristics of mineralcorticoid.

   Glycyrrhiza is metabolically converted to glycyrrhetic acid (GA). GA, when incubated in-vitro with adrenal gland cells increases DHEA production.

2. effects on digestive system

   a. anti ulcer

   b. anti convulsion

   c.  promotes secretion of insulin

   d. protects liver from toxin

3. anti inflammation

4. anti allergy

5. anti cancer

     Saponins stimulate the immune system and inhibit Epstein-Barr virus expression and possess in-vitro (in the test tube) anti-cancer activities. Epstein_Barr virus is associated in certain cancer development. Glycyrrhiza also contains quercetin that has anticancer effects. Glycyrrhiza lowers serum testosterone levels and correspondingly increases estrogen levels by inducing two enzymes called 17-ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and aromatase thus inhibit prostate cancer cells.

6. anti virus and bacteria

   a. anti HIV

   b. anti amoeba and bacteria

7. effect on blood vessels

   a. lower blood lipids

       Both saponins and licoflavones are known to bind to cholesterol and bile acids and have surfactant properties.

Chemical ingredients:

Glycyrrhizic acid, its potassium and calcium salt provide the sweet tastes of glycyrrhizin,  hydrolized into two molecules glucuronic acid and one molecule 18 b-glycyrrhetic acid. Also contains 24-hydroxyglycyrrhetic acid [1] , licorice saponins A3, B2,C2,D3, F3, G2, H2, J2, K, and K2. The hydrolized substance also contains uralenic acid. 

Dosage:

Samples of formulae:

Ai Sou San, Ba Zheng San, Bai Hu Tang, Ban Xia Bai Zhu Tian Ma Tang, Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang,Chai Ge Jie Ji Tang, Ding Chuan Tang,  Gan Ma Da Zao Tang, gui zhi tang, gui pi tang, jiao ai tang, Ju Pi Zhu Ru Tang,  ma huang tang, Ren Shen Bai Du San,  Sang Ju Yin, Long Dan Xie Gan Tang, Suan Zao Ren Tang, Tiao Wei Cheng Qi Tang, Wen Jing Tang,  Yin Qiao San, Xiao Feng San, Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang,

Modern Applications

1. Decrease of hypophysis frontal lobe function after child birth.

2. Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) cerebrospinal meningitis

3. Addison's Disease

4. Ulcers of duodenum and stomach

5. Infant constipation

6. Hepatitis B

7. Colitis of colon with ulcers

8. Arrhythmia

9. Lung TB

10. Chronic prostate inflammation and impotence

11. Urine retention after surgery

12.

Cautions:

Small dosages are used as moderating and synergizing herbs while large dosages can increase blood pressure. Long term usage of large dosage can also cause edema and hypokalemia.

Using gan cao with aspirin may increase the irritation of the stomach.