Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) is a Mediterranean perennial plant having light blue flowers, feathery leaves, and a sweet, distinctively flavored root. Its generic name, “Glycyrrhiza,” comes from the ancient Greek words glycos riza, meaning “sweet root.”1 It has grown in the wild in many Middle Eastern, European, and western Asian countries.

Licorice is 50 times sweeter than table sugar, though some researchers have placed it at more than 150 times sweeter than sucrose. This intense sweetness can be traced to Glycyrrhizic acid, a multi-purpose molecule that consists of two sugar moieties. Glycyrrhizic acid, one of the main components found in Licorice root, is believed to contribute to the herb’s healing properties. The varied properties of this molecule have led to the surprising mix of products containing licorice today: medicines, cough syrups, herbal supplements, gum, drinks, and candy.

History of licorice as a healing herb

Licorice root has been used since ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman times in the West, and since the second and third centuries B.C in the East. Hindus, Chinese, Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and eventually the Greeks and Romans all were acquainted with its sweet flavor. Egyptians used it as the main ingredient of a very well known drink, called erksoos,2 which is still popular in modern times. In Japan, the oldest specimen of licorice introduced from China in the middle of the eighth century still exists in the Imperial Storehouse. Ancient soldiers found that if they chewed the root on long marches, it would prevent thirst. The benefits of licorice were also known by physicians in the Middle East, so they prescribed it as a medicine. Ibn Sina (Avicenna), the famous physician and philosopher, said that: “the infused licorice purifies the voice and the trachea, and is useful in disorders and diets.”3 He used this plant in treating his patients nine centuries ago. Greeks and Romans ate licorice to treat coughs, asthma, colds, and sore throats. Today it’s still a popular flavor for cough drops and other medicines. During the Ottoman Empire Eastern Turks used to make a drink called “Meyan serbeti” by combining licorice and water. Even today it is sold by the street vendors in Southeast Turkey.

Medicinal uses and indications

In both the East and West, licorice has been used to treat a variety of illnesses ranging from the common cold to liver disease. This herb has long been valued as a demulcent (soother) and expectorant (which rids phlegm and mucous from the respiratory tract). It is particularly popular for relief from respiratory ailments such as allergies, bronchitis, colds, and sore throats. It is also used as a treatment for stomach problems, diseases of the skin, relief from stress, and diseases of the liver.

Today’s studies and findings have revealed the amazing properties of licorice, which will be a remedy in medicine for different diseases beside pharmaceutical products.

• Animal studies and trials in humans have supported the value of licorice for stomach ulcers. “If I had an ulcer, the first thing I’d go for is licorice,” says James Duke, Ph.D., botanist at the US Department of Agriculture. .Dozens of studies, he says, endow licorice root with formidable anti ulcer properties.4 Many studies have shown the licorice is just as effective as the commonly used ulcer drug Tagamet in healing ulcers.

• The Journal of Drugs in Dermatology July edition reports that licorice, among other natural products, is very effective for use in treatment of rosacea, atopic dermatitis, irritated skin, drug-induced skin eruptions, and psoriasis.

• Licorice is showing well in studies of its use in heart treatment. In recent research, people with high cholesterol experienced significant reductions in total cholesterol after taking licorice root extracts for one month. Systolic blood pressure was reduced by 10%. These measures returned to their previous elevated levels when participants stopped taking the licorice supplements.

• Researchers at the University of California have been studying licorice root to prevent cavities. Studies which have been done so far have shown that compounds isolated from licorice root could be inhibitors for microbes to cause tooth decay. “More studies are needed before it is proven that the compounds effectively fight cavities in humans. If further studies show promise, the licorice compounds could eventually be used as cavity-fighting components in mouthwash or toothpaste” says Wenyuan Shi, Ph.D, a microbiologist at UCLA’s School of Dentistry.”5

• Some people in the USA face a serious oral problem which is the severe pain in the mouth called “canker sores”. Dentists have been trying different types of treatments for this disease. Studies have shown that the best result received the treatment that is used the adhesive patch with the licorice extract.6

Even though there are many benefits to using licorice, at high doses there may be some side effects such as high blood pressure and low blood potassium levels, and fluid retention because of glycyrrhizin. Some licorice root extracts, with the glycyrrhizin removed, are known as deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL). This form retains many of licorice’s healing properties and is the better choice for long term use. Scientific studies have shown that DGL reduces inflammation and is as effective as prescription drugs for gastric ulcers without side effects. Natural health experts Phyllis and James Balch reported to naturalnews.com that “it’s best not to eat more than three ounces a day and it should not be used on a daily basis more than seven days in a row by persons with diabetes, heart diseases and high blood pressure.”

Food and other uses

Licorice root has a long history of being used to make candy. Two licorice candies that originated in England are Allsorts and Pontefract Cakes, which have been around since Elizabethan times when licorice was grown in the Pontefract district of Yorkshire. Allsorts are pastel-colored and round-square candies. Pontefract Cakes are soft, coin-shaped black licorice. Today, some of these candies are decorated with a stamp of Pontefract Castle. In Finland, red and black licorice is shaped like little smoking pipes, while in Germany it’s shaped into wheels. Salty licorice, shaped in coin-diamond, is very popular in Holland. Another popular Dutch candy is Katje, shaped with black cats and made of strong-flavored licorice [10]. Although it seems odd, many flavors such as mint, coffee, cherry, honey and chocolate are combined with licorice to make tasty treats. Unfortunately, many American candies that are called licorice actually contain no licorice at all. Licorice, fennel, and anise all have an essential oil called anethole, which gives them a distinctive taste. Many “licorice” candies are actually flavored with anise instead. Next time you eat licorice, check the package to see if licorice extract is one of the ingredients.

Although licorice is something to eat or drink, some of its more interesting uses have little to do with food. Much of the natural licorice grown today ends up flavoring tobacco instead of candy. But what about the parts of licorice that remain once the flavor is removed?

One of the products of licorice roots is a foaming liquid. This can sometimes be added as a flavoring in some beverages, but an unexpected use for the same liquid is found in fire extinguishers. It can extinguish fires in oil tanks, where other traditional methods are unsuccessful.

Even after every drop of liquid is removed from roots, they’re still useful. Pulp mills blend the root’s fibers with other ingredients to make boxes and wallboards. Walls with only a half-inch-thick piece of this fiber board are better insulators from heat, cold, and sound than six-inch walls of brick, stone, or concrete.

Until several decades, Scientists have emphasized only how plants do photosynthesis other than informing or searching other amazing functions. Today, scientists have been studying plants in order to get more useful benefits from them. The licorice plant needs further research in order for us to discover other benefits to human being’s ecology. In the light of explored results about licorice, numerous ways of using this plant have been proven and caused people to ponder about how a simple plant is able to carry the varied properties in its roots. It is basically wood, but sweeter than sugar.

Conclusion

Almost every day humankind faces a new health problem which can never be healed by medicine, nor can they determine the root cause. Today, by understanding the amazing properties of the Licorice plant, we should explore the earth for other plants in search for what has been created and its benefits to us. There are surely countless other unknown and useful plants waiting to be discovered and used for their real purpose of living.

Even though there have been many promising findings, there are ongoing debates in the scientific community regarding the value and side effects of licorice products. Further studies are needed.

Despite its long history, licorice may yet surprise us. Its presence in the candy aisle, at the pharmacy, among the natural food products, and on the checkout stand attests to the complexity and rich chemistry of this sweet beneficial root.

Sumeyra Dural Cokavci has a Master’s degree in Nuclear Physics, Georgia State University, Atlanta.

References

1. The Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook: By James A. Duke p:194

2. Toxicology and clinical pharmacology of herbal products By Melanie Johns Cupp, p: 223

3. http://www.asehlicorice.com/

4. Food–Your Miracle Medicine By Jean Carper p:177

5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2632514?dopt=Abstract

6. http://www.food-info.net/uk/products/sweets/liquorice.htm

Some people might see me as a rough piece of flesh that wiggles in the mouth. Of course I am not that simple! By looking at my color, some experienced doctors can even diagnose an illness. For example, some well-known symptoms that I show are whitening due to fever, becoming dark brown when you have typhoid, blackening because of a yeast infection, or having a smooth surface because of anemia or lack of niacin (a B-group vitamin).

If you are wondering what my primary duties are, I can say that the first is to help to produce speech, an ability which distinguishes you human beings from animals. For sure this speech production is not only mine. First of all the brain, which is the coordinator of all the organs including me, regulates all my movements in speaking. The other organs that help me form sounds to make words are your teeth, lips, palate, the vocal cords in your throat, and your lungs, which work like an air pump and vibrate those cords. As you see, so many of us work together just to produce your speech.

Other than the speech function, my second major duty is to work as an inspector to taste and process the countless fruits and delicious foods that are given by God. That is how you get an idea about an animal- or plant-based substance that you want to eat. If I did not exist, you might die because of a poisonous plant that you ate out of hunger. Many poisonous substances have a bitter taste. Indeed, I can sense their bad taste the moment I touch them and warn you to spit out the thing in your mouth immediately. When you eat sweet and delicious things, however, I make you remember and thank God, who has given them to you. However, you should be careful about my fondness for taste and control yourself since that is part of a God-given test. My Creator has made a relation between my love of taste and the evil-commanding side of your soul. He has also made me a step for your spiritual development. If you eat and drink too much, which means you are misled by your evil-commanding side and abuse my sense of taste, it will be you who lose. I do what my duty requires and get the taste of everything. But it is your job to use your will power and not to be defeated by your evil-commanding self (nafs). I will never stop you, whether you eat one piece of baklava or ten; I will get the taste of every piece. Do not ever blame me for that!

I have another function that many people are not aware of. My movement causes a negative pressure in the cavity of the mouth. Are you wondering what this negative pressure does? This pressure is needed especially for babies to nurse on their mothers’ breast easily; I help them in the sucking movement. In addition to that, as everybody knows, I have very important functions in chewing and swallowing food. I manipulate the food in your mouth; I soften and moisten it with saliva so that it can be easily swallowed. Also, during swallowing, I move the food back toward the pharynx. I have to be very careful while doing all this, since at my smallest mistake, your teeth might bite and hurt me.

Of course, I can do all this only with the help of my Creator, who has built my anatomy of delicate tissues and cells. Since He never does anything absurd or useless, He has given every organ qualities that are both esthetic and functional. My main body consists of seventeen muscles, eight of which are in pairs. They extend in all directions. Among those muscles are the lipid membrane and some salivary glands. I am the most flexible organ in your body. My many strong muscles enable me to move in lots of directions easily. Those muscles are covered by an epithelial lining which is called the mucous membrane. The small projections on my upper surface are called papillae. These papillae are of several types. They contain receptors which allow you to sense taste and the salivary glands that help me stay wet all the time. The papillae cover as far as an A-shaped line towards my back which makes up a third of my length. Here at my back, there are plenty of salivary glands and the lymphoid tissue, also known as the lingual tonsil. Many germs that enter through your mouth get trapped here. The papillae are named according to their shapes. The filiform papillae (which are long and thin) do not contain taste buds. They only provide a rough surface to move the food easily. The food is moistened by your saliva and crushed by your teeth. Then, with the help of these papillae, I help to shape the food into smaller pieces to make it easier to swallow. The fungiform papillae are mushroom-shaped and scattered among the filiform papillae. They are located at the center of my top surface and they contain taste buds. The circumvallate papillae lie along the A-shaped line which makes up the border of my back. These papillae are larger in size and smaller in number; there are around thirteen of them. Each taste bud on the fungiform papillae has 50 to 75 receptor cells which live for only seven to ten days. When cells die because of hot or acidic foods, new ones are created to make new nerves for the taste buds. Only substances that are dissolved in water can reach the taste receptors. That is why I cannot taste a dry substance that you have taken into your mouth right away; it has to be moistened and softened first. Tasting occurs in the receptor cells of taste, where some analyses are undertaken much more delicately than in a chemistry laboratory. My receptor cells change this chemical stimulus into an electrical stimulus and send it to your brain. This electrical stimulus allows the sense of taste to be perceived.

Among the many kinds of taste, there are four major groups. The taste buds for sweetness are located near my front; the taste buds for saltiness are scattered widely on my surface; the taste buds for bitterness are found at my back; and the taste buds for sourness are on my sides.

My under surface extends between my tip and the floor of your mouth. The mucous membrane that covers this surface is smooth and does not contain papillae. It is purple in color because of the many blood vessels that are inside me and nourish me. By the way, the famous saying that “the tongue does not have a bone” is wrong, since I do have a bone. However, this bone is not located in my front body, which is why I am very flexible and I can say whatever you command me to say. But by my muscles and ligaments I am firmly bound to a U-shaped bone (the hyoid bone) at my root. I am connected to your lower jaw by this bone.

I can have disorders, like every other organ. In fact, many disorders in me are an indication of disorders in the other organs or of a metabolic illness. For example, mouth ulcers can often be seen on me. Some types of mouth ulcer are caused by stress, lack of sleep, or lack of vitamins. Others occur as a result of absorption disorders and as a symptom of Behcet’s syndrome. Some ulcers can last for weeks and they can be very painful. You might suffer from this pain especially when you speak and eat. Diseases such as syphilis and herpes also show themselves as ulcers on me. I might even become cancerous in people who smoke or in those who eat and drink things that are too hot. I sometimes show the symptoms of some metabolic disorders like Down’s Syndrome, the blockage of lymph vessels, glycogenosis and amiloidosis. In these disorders, my muscle mass shows excessive growth due to abnormally deposited glycogen and amyloid.

Dear Peter, until now, your “speechless organs” have talked about themselves in their own tongue. I have always talked, but I have always talked on your behalf, expressing your thoughts and feelings. It is you who are responsible for what I have said, good or bad, since I am bound to your will power. However, today I spoke in my own tongue, and on behalf of our Creator. As is well known, I am an organ that has great potential for both evil and good. It is your duty to control me and use me well. Do not ever forget that I am not a simple mass of muscle, epithelium and nerves. Rather, I am a tool that can be used for both debasing and elevating you. From now on, when you eat an apple, do not swallow it before chewing well; wait till I get the flavor of it very well. In that way, you will have an opportunity to thank God for the food you are given. He is the One who not only gave you that apple, but also me, the organ that can taste it. This is just another amazing thing that makes your life beautiful! By thanking God, you will deepen your worship of Him.

Irfan Yilmaz is a professor of biology at Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey.

With their profound, spiritual breezes, every sound and breath of air in Ramadan announces in a most exalted and exhilarating style all the pleasures we would like to taste in life and the hopes of good we deeply cherish.

Coming like successive rays of light, the smiling days of Ramadan envelop us with the expectations, hopes and joys they carry from the worlds beyond, and present to us samples from Paradise.

When Ramadan begins, our inner life, its thoughts and feelings, is renewed and strengthened. Breezes of mercy, coming in different wavelengths, unite with our hopes and expectations, and penetrate our hearts. In the enchanting days and illumined nights of Ramadan, we feel as if all the obstacles blocking our way to God are removed and the hills on that way are levelled.

Like rain pouring on the earth, Ramadan comes with streams of meanings and emotions that water dried and thirsty hearts, making the inner worlds of people propitious for new meanings and conceptions. By means of the light of the days, hours and minutes of this blessed month, hearts attain such spiritual depth and become so purified that they never desire to leave its climate of peace.

As Ramadan approaches, we live the delight of anticipation and preparation for it. The food and drink that come into our kitchens in the days before it comes, put us in mind of it with a thrill of expectation. And then it comes at last, laden with mercy and forgiveness. As soon as it honours us, each of us finds himself in a spiral of light rising toward the heavens and advances toward the Unknown Existent One in a new spiritual mood in the night-time and in another, different spiritual mood in daytime. We open our eyes to each of its days with a different solemnity and self-possession and reach every evening in an enchanting, delightful serenity.

The pleasant nights of Ramadan receive warmest welcome from all souls. Eyes look more deeply in them and people feel deeper love for each other. Everyone desires to do good to everyone and passions and ill-feeling are subjugated to a certain extent. In Ramadan everyone feels so much more attached to God and is so careful in his relations with others that it is impossible not to see this.

Believing souls taste the contentment of belief more deeply and experience the blessing of the good morals prescribed by Islam and the spiritual ease of doing good to others. Moreover, they try to expand, to share, this contentment, blessing and ease with others. Since these souls at rest are convinced that one day will come when this life will end in an eternal happiness and whatever they suffer and sacrifice here for God’s sake will be returned with very great reward, they struggle against their animal appetites in a mood of doing an act of worship. The meals they take at sunset to break the fast give them the pleasure of worship and are followed by early night prayer with the addition of the supererogatory service of worship particular to Ramadan. The meals they take before dawn to start fasting are united with supererogatory night prayer (tahajjud) and become a dimension of their nearness to God. Streets are filled with the people going to and returning from mosques, in which declarations of ‘God is the Greatest’ resound as in the Masjid al-Haram in Makka. You would think that the streets are each a mosque and each mosque is Ka’ba. The people shaped by Ramadan in this way, though mortal in nature, gain a sort of eternity and each of their acts done in the consciousness of deliberate worship becomes a ceremony pertaming to the Hereafter.

Nights are experienced more deeply and in consideration of the afterlife, and days are spent as portions of time dominated by resolution and strong will-power. Those fasting for God’s sake feel a thrill of joy, and spend every and each day in the excitement of a new re-union. They reach every morning in an indescribable feeling as if they were called to a new testing. You can discern on their faces a sign of humility mixed with solemnity, a feeling of nothingness before God together with serenity and seriousness and melancholy combined with a feeling of security. Their every act reflects spiritual peace and exhilaration coming from adherence to God’s will and confidence in Him, and sincerity and kindness acquired by being cleansed in the cascades of the Qur’an. As if created from light and consisting in only their shadows, they are very careful to give no one any harm or trouble. Respect and courtesy are so much a part of their nature that, even after a day of thirst and hunger and resisting their carnal desires, they remain gentle and pure-hearted. They display a mood shaped by fear and reverence, discipline and contentment, solemnity and politeness. They are respectful and reverent toward the Almighty and well-mannered and sincere toward one another.

Their faces and eyes reflect different degrees and dimensions of depth of spiritual realms and are radiant with the lights of the unseen world. Though each individual may have been shaped by a different climate and different ideas,-all of them, including the intelligent and pure-hearted, those used to a disciplined, careful life and those a bit untidy and careless, the nervous and the calm, those very sensitive to problems of the age and those a little unfeeling, the rich and the poor, the happy and sorrowful, the healthy and the ill, the white and black-share almost the same feelings in Ramadan. They reach the night and morning together, listen to the call to prayers and perform the prayers together, take the meals before dawn and break their fasts together. They feel together one of the two instances of rejoicing promised for those who fast [The Prophet said: There are two instances of rejoicing for one who fasts: one when he breaks his fast, the other when he will receive the reward of fasting in the Hereafter.]

All Muslims, whatever their nationality or country of origin or temperament or social status or physical state, come together and breathe the same ‘air’ in the climate of Ramadan. In it, their souls are shaped in a way particular to that climate, and they share a sort of deeply-felt happiness which can be experienced only by spirit beings. Ramadan has a fascinating effect on Muslims that leaves its positive imprints on even the souls of the poorest and most oppressed people.

Ramadan envelops us with many beauties: the pleasure in the supererogatory prayers performed after the prescribed night service; consciousness of the blessings of Ramadan; the light that pours on us both from the heaven and from the lights that decorate the mosques; the nearness of the Creative Power and Its message of compassion and forgiveness whispered in our hearts. As if planned and commanded in order to kindle such feelings and thoughts in us, each element of the public rites in Ramadan causes the ‘strings’ of our heats to resonate: the calls made from minarets and the blessings called on the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, and the pronouncements of Divine Unity, Grandeur and Glory which resound in our ears, all prepare our souls for worship. They awake us to spiritual and celestial truths and enable even the crudest soul to perform its duties of worship in the way those duties are meant to be performed.

The voices rising from minarets meet with the voices of the inhabitants of the heavens and resound throughout the heavens and the earth. They penetrate our souls and take us through a climate of purest meanings and poetry, a realm of sweet imagination. In this pleasant atmosphere, we feel as if it is Ramadan which pours from the heavens, which is discerned on the faces of people and scents the air and is written in the lights of the mosques. Enchanted by this calm and peaceful atmosphere, we achieve a sort of infinitude and feel as if comprehending the whole of existence. Ramadan captivates particularly those open to eternity to such an extent that they experience nothing else than it.

I remember well that during my childhood when there was as yet no electricity in cities, people walked to mosques with kerosene lamps in the darkness of night. We imagined that Ramadan was walking around in the alleys in the lights of those lamps. Under the influence of poetry, meaning and deep spirituality which Ramadan poured into our souls, we desired that it should never come to an end. Nevertheless, despite our heartfelt desire, it flew away and the festive day followed it with all its pomp.