The Percent of Extract and Glycyrrhizin Content of Glycyrrhia glabra Root Grown in Kerman Province and Some Samples from Fars Province by HPLC Method

Licorice (Glycyrrhia glabra L.) is an important herbal medicine that its root extract has long been used for the treatment of various diseases. The essential component of its root is glycyrrhizin. This study was performed to determine the percentage of the extract and glycyrrhizin content of the roots of Glycyrrhiz glabra grown in different areas of Kerman province and some samples in Fars province. Twenty six samples from the roots of Glycyrrhia glabra grown in various areas of Kerman province and 2 samples from Fars Province (a total of 28 samples from 8 regions) were collected and extracted by using ethanol and distilled water (for 5 samples). The percentage of glycyrrhizin in the extracts was determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) technique. Mean percent of extracts from the samples of Fasa and Shiraz in Fars province (18.25 ± 1.06%), Sirjan (17.29 ± 0.90%) and Bardsir (16.33 ± 5.62%) were higher than other areas (P<0.05). Glycyrrhizin contents of samples of Bardsir (5.09 ± 0.02%), Sirjan (4.94 ± 0.75%), Zarand (4.46 ± 3.34%) were non significantly higher than Glycyrrhizin content of Fars samples (3.65 ± 0.59%). The percentage of the extract and glycyrrhizin were higher in ethanol extract compared to the aqueous extract (P<0.05). Samples with yellow root color had higher percentage of glycyrrhizin than those with brown color and samples of relatively cold and high altitude areas had higher glycyrrhizin content (P<0.001, P<0.05 respectively). Overall, it is concluded that the percent of extract and glycyrrhizin content of licorice root in the most areas of Kerman is relatively high. Appropriate measures for using this root in the country and for exporting purposes and also industrial growing in potential areas of the Province are recommended.