Licorice Composition Of Different Sources, A Comparative Study

Licorice has a long history as a frequently used medicinal herb which is widely used in many areas. Different sources (such as origins, cultivation ages etc) will lead to significant difference and instability of quality in commodity medicines. The quality evaluation of licorice has more than one-sidedness which can not fully reflect the internal quality. Therefore,this study collected from different sources, collected in different seasons of wild and cultivated,in order to find out factors effecting the quality of licorice,such as cultivation age, harvest time and other factors.Study of different ages cultivated licorice: The longer of the growing time, the more obvious correlation between its internal components. The polysaccharides and protein and other secondary metabolites were negatively correlated, the crude fat and major secondary metabolites were positively correlated. There are positive correlations between the secondary metabolites. Content of crude protein increased with the growth of life and lower fat and fiber content with the time of growth increased. Ash and acid insoluble ash trends and cultivation age were not correlated with the origin, the same origin and acid insoluble ash ash the same trend.There are significant differences between the wild and the cultivated: there are more content of saponins , polysaccharides, protein and acid insoluble ash in cultivated licorice than the wild, the other components were lower than wild licorice. The main difference between the wild and cultivated licorice fingerprint in several major peaks area ration of flavonoids and flavanone glycosides.A comprehensive comparative analysis of Licorice from different origins: The difference is significant, in the wild licorice, glycyrrhizin content of the majority samples can achieve Pharmacopoeia standards, liquiritin contentn in 43 percent of samplds is below Pharmacopoeia standards. In cultivated licorice, 1,2-year-samples have low content, content of glycyrrhizin and liquiritin in 30.7 percent of 3-year-samples achieve Pharmacopoeia standards. Content of glycyrrhizin in 66.7 percent of four-year-samples and liquiritin in 77.8% achieve Pharmacopoeia standards. The two kinds of index components throughout the difference is significant.To find out dynamic variation trend of the active constituents and material constituents in licoric of different harvest time : the compositions of different age licorice in different harvest season changes essentially the same; In addition to the general saponin content of the highest in August, the other components in the peak period of mostly concentrated in May ,September, or October. It should be based on the need to choose the right time for harvesting and processing.The innovative works : (1) To find out the variation trend, correlations and proportional relationships of crude protein, crude fiber, fat, ash and acid insoluble ash of cultivated licorice in different ages. (2) Comparative analysis about content and differences in proportion of general saponin, crude protein, crude fiber, fat, ash and acid insoluble ash in cultivated and wild licorice. (3) To reveal the variation trend of licorice collected in different periods by multiple indicator analysis.