What effect and function does licorice have?

Licorice is also a very common Chinese herbal medicine. Does licorice have any special effects and functions? What's the use of licorice? What is the efficacy and function of licorice? Let me answer this question for you!

What is licorice? (Scientific name: Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.) Alias: Lao Guo, Sweet Grass, Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. Leguminosae and Glycyrrhiza are perennial herbs with strong roots and rhizomes, which are nourishing Chinese herbal medicines. A very good medicine for human body, the medicinal parts are roots and rhizomes. The medicinal root is cylindrical, with a length of 25 ~ 100 cm and a diameter of 0.6 ~ 3.5 cm. The skin is elastic and the surface is reddish brown or grayish brown. The rhizome is cylindrical, with bud marks on the surface and pith in the middle of the section. Slight breath, sweet, special taste. Functions: clearing away heat and toxic materials, resolving phlegm and relieving cough, abdominal distension, etc. I like a dry climate with dark and humid, long sunshine and low temperature. Glycyrrhiza uralensis mostly grows in arid and semi-arid desert grassland, desert edge and loess hilly area. Roots and rhizomes are used in medicine.

Perennial herb with stout roots and rhizomes, diameter of 1-3 cm, brown skin and yellowish inside. That's great.

The stem is erect, multi-branched, 30- 120 cm high, densely covered with scaly glands, spiny glands and white or brown villi.

Leaves 5-20 cm long, stipules triangular-lanceolate, about 5 mm long and 2 mm wide, with white pubescence on both sides; Petiole densely covered with brown glandular dots and pubescence; 5- 17 lobules, oval, oblong or nearly round, 65438+ 0.5-5cm long and 0.8-3cm wide, with dark green at the top and green at the bottom, densely covered with yellowish brown glandular spots and pubescence on both sides, blunt at the top, short at the top [1], round at the base and full or slightly wavy at the edge.

Racemes axillary, with many flowers, total pedicels shorter than leaves, dense brown scaly glandular spots and pubescence; Bracts oblong-lanceolate, 3-4 mm long, brown, membranous, yellow glandular punctate and pubescent; The calyx is bell-shaped, 7- 14 mm long, densely covered with yellow glandular spots and pubescence, and the base is obliquely swollen and cystic, with 5 calyx teeth, nearly as long as the calyx tube, and the upper two teeth are mostly connected; Corolla purple,

White or yellow, long 10-24 mm, flag petal oblong, slightly concave at the top, short peduncle at the base, wing petal shorter than flag petal, keel petal shorter than wing petal; Ovary densely spiny hairy glands. Pods are bent into sickle-shaped or ring-shaped, densely packed into spheres, densely covered with tumor-like protrusions and prickly glands. Seeds 3- 1 1, dark green, round or kidney-shaped, about 3 mm long. The flowering period is June-August, and the fruiting period is July-65438+1October.

Erect genus, alternate leaves, odd compound leaves, 7 ~ 17 leaflets, oval and egg-shaped, axillary racemes, lilacs and irises. The fruit is oblong, sometimes curved into a sickle or ring, and densely covered with brown prickly glandular hairs. Flat and round seeds.

What are the effects of licorice? Licorice is sweet, flat and non-toxic. Treat cold and heat pathogens in viscera, strengthen bones and muscles, increase muscle strength, detoxify, and prolong life after long-term use. Raw use of heat, cooked use of cold, clear throat and throat, eliminate pathogenic heat, reduce healthy qi, nourish yin and blood, replenish spleen and stomach, moisten lung. Raw licorice is good at clearing fire, clearing away heat and toxic materials, moistening lung and relieving cough. Used for phlegm-heat cough, sore throat, etc. Radix Glycyrrhizae Preparata is good at warming the middle warmer, which benefits qi and has a strong analgesic effect. Used for spleen deficiency, weak stomach, palpitation and pulse generation. Licorice powder is good at treating urethral pain and urinary tract stranguria. Appropriate detumescence and detoxification, benefit joints, powder licorice, and focus on clearing fire and purging heart fire. The same thing, its processing is different, and its efficacy and indications are also different.

Can be used for treating heart qi deficiency, palpitation, pulse condition, spleen and stomach qi deficiency, and mental fatigue.

The former is often combined with Guizhi, such as Guizhi Gancao Decoction and Zhigancao Decoction. The latter is often used with Dangshen and Baizhu, such as Sijunzi Decoction and Lizhong Pill.

It can be used for acute pain of stomachache, abdominal pain and gastrocnemius contracture.

Often used with Paeonia lactiflora, it can significantly enhance the curative effect of treating acute contracture pain, such as Paeonia lactiflora and Glycyrrhiza Decoction.

Can be used for treating carbuncle, sore, sore throat, etc.

Can be used alone, orally or externally, or in combination. For carbuncle, it is often combined with heat-clearing and detoxicating herbs such as honeysuckle and forsythia, such as Xianfang Huosheng Drink. Radix Platycodi is commonly used for sore throat, such as orange stem soup. In case of pesticide and food poisoning, it is often combined with mung beans or decocted against feng shui.

Used for asthma and cough.

Can be used alone or in combination with other drugs. For example, Erchen decoction for treating cough with damp phlegm, Linggan Wuwei Jiangxin decoction for treating cough with cold phlegm, Sangxing decoction for treating cough with dry phlegm, Tanggeng decoction for treating cough with foul smell and pus caused by lung abscess and heat toxin, and Gancao Ganjiang decoction for treating cough and saliva foam. In addition, wind-heat cough, wind-cold cough and hot phlegm cough are often used together.

Used to reconcile the efficacy of certain drugs.

For example, seasoning Chengqi decoction can reduce the diarrhea effect of rhubarb and mirabilite and its stimulation to gastrointestinal tract. In addition, in many prescriptions, this product is often used to mix various drugs.

What are the anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effects of licorice?

Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch also has anti-inflammatory and antiallergic effects, and can protect inflamed throat and tracheal mucosa. The detoxification effect of licorice extract and glycyrrhizic acid on some poisons is similar to that of glucuronic acid.

Protect and nourish the liver

Licorice contains glycyrrhizic acid and other effective components, which can prevent liver cells from being damaged by inhibiting complement, thus protecting the liver, and preventing viruses from entering liver cells by changing cell membrane permeability, thus achieving antiviral effect.

Protect gastrointestinal health

Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch has adrenocortical hormone-like effect. Can inhibit excessive gastric acid secretion caused by histamine; Has antacid and gastrointestinal smooth muscle spasm relieve effects.

Antitussive effect

Licorice flavonoids, licorice extract and glycyrrhetinic acid all have obvious antitussive and expectorant effects, and their action intensity is glycyrrhizic acid >: licorice flavonoids > licorice extract.

Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch can enhance the efficacy of other drugs in the prescription.

This is related to glycyrrhizic acid, liquiritigenin and isoliquiritigenin contained in licorice. For example, paeoniflorin glycyrrhizinate has synergistic effects in analgesia, spasmolysis, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, inhibition of gastric juice secretion and relaxation of smooth muscle.

Get rid of bad breath

Drinking Ophiopogon japonicus and licorice tea, or putting a plum, olive and hawthorn in your mouth can also prevent bad breath.

Treat joint pain

Roasted licorice has the effect of benefiting qi and relieving pain. It is found that some patients with joint pain can relieve pain after taking roasted licorice. Therefore, citizens suffering from gastrointestinal discomfort and joint pain can take roasted licorice.

Heat-clearing and detoxicating effects of raw licorice

He Bangguang said that in ancient times, such as arsenic poisoning and lead poisoning. People directly soak raw licorice in water to detoxify. Now, if rural people drink some mild pesticide water by mistake, they can cook licorice to take it, which has a certain alleviating effect. If the poisoning is serious, you need emergency medical treatment. Poisoning caused by eating shrimp or crabs can also be detoxified by taking raw licorice water.

Other functions