Planta Med 2012; 78 - PF5
DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1320551

Screening and establishment of the high-glycyrrhizin strain of licorice, Glycyrrhiza uralensis

M Kojoma 1, SY Kim 1, S Hayashi 2, A Hishida 2, T Shibata 2, N Kawahara 2, Y Yamamoto 3
  • 1Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Tobetsu, Hokkaido, JAPAN
  • 2Research Center for Medicinal Plant Resources, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, Nayoro, Hokkaido, JAPAN
  • 3Tochimoto tenkaido Co., Ltd., Kaibara, Hyogo, JAPAN

Licorice, the root and stolon of Glycyrrhiza uralensis, is among the most important crude drugs in traditional oriental medicine. Glycyrrhizin, a triterpenoid saponin, is a major bioactive compound having several pharmacological activities. Here, we describe the screening of high-glycyrrhizin type strain from a same age population of G. uralensis cultivated under the same conditions in a field. Glycyrrhizin content of the selected strain was reached over 4% (average 2.11%, n=100). We established clonal plants of the selected high-glycyrrhizin strain using in virto micro-propagation by plant tissue culture.

Fig.1: glycyrrhizin