The liquorice plant is a legume that is native to southern Europe and parts of Asia.
It is a herbaceous perennial, growing to 1 m in height, with pinnate leaves about 7 to 15 centimetres long, with 9 to 17 leaflets.
The flowers are 0,8 to 1,2 cm long, purple to pale whitish blue, produced in a loose inflorescence.
The fruit is an oblong pod, 2 to 3 centimetres long, containing several seeds.
The flavor of liquorice comes mainly from a sweet-tasting compound called anethole, an aromatic, unsaturated ether compound also found in anise, fennel, and several other herbs.
Much of the sweetness in liquorice comes from glycyrrhizin, a compound sweeter than sugar.
Liquorice flavour is found in a wide variety of liquorice candies.
Liquorice flavouring is also used in soft drinks, and in some herbal teas where it provides a sweet aftertaste.
The flavour is common in medicines to disguise unpleasant flavours.
Chinese cuisine uses liquorice as a culinary spice for savoury foods.
It is often employed to flavour broths and foods simmered in soy sauce.
It is also the main ingredient of a very well known soft drink in Egypt.
The compound glycyrrhizic acid, found in liquorice, is now routinely used throughout Japan for the treatment and control of chronic viral hepatitis, and there is a possible transaminase-lowering effect.
In herbalism it is used in the Hoxsey anti-cancer formula, and is a considered adaptogen which helps reregulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.
It can also be used for auto-immune conditions including lupus, scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis and animal dander allergies.