Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1921. 
Studies  on  Licorice  Root. 
487 
moval  of  resins  and  bitter  principles,  followed  by  removal  of  starch 
and  gums. 
Results  of  comparative  experiments  on  this  subject  will  now  be 
communicated. 
In  one  of  the  previous  papers  (this  Journal,  June,  1912,  p. 
542)  I  have  already  shown  that  cold  95  per  cent,  alcohol  completely 
removes  from  licorice  root,  resins  and  bitter  substances  together  with 
some  sugars,  but  does  not  remove  any  glycyrrhizin,  and  that  the  gly- 
cyrrhizin  may  then  be  completely  removed  by  50  per  cent,  alcohol. 
Linz  confirms  both  of  these  statements. 
My  experiments  on  the  preliminary  removal  of  resins  and  bitter 
substances  from  the  root  before  determining  the  glycyrrhizin,  have 
been  repeated  and  extended. 
For  this  work  powdered  roots  passing  a  40-mesh  screen  were 
used.  They  were  dried  from  their  normal  moisture  content  of  about 
8-10  per  cent,  to  about  1  per  cent.,  either  by  warming  in  an 
oven  at  about  500  C.  for  an  hour  or  two,  or  by  standing  in  a  thin 
layer  over  sulphuric  acid  for  a  day.  The  roots  were  then  extracted 
with  solvents  (ether  or  strong  alcohol)  and  glycyrrhizin  determina- 
tions were  carried  out  on  the  roots  after  such  extractions,  and  com- 
pared with  glycyrrhizin  determinations  made  directly  on  the  original 
roots  with  75  per  cent,  alcohol,  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  described 
in  the  method  for  licorice  extract. 
Series  i. 
percolation  of  roots  with  95  per  cent.  alcohol. 
Spanish.  Russian.  Chinese. 
95%  Alcohol  removed                                        9.6%  11.4%  10.4% 
60%  Alcohol  then  removed                                 24.7%  25.3%  24.0% 
Glycyrrhizin  removed  by  60%  Alcohol                 10. 1    9.3  12.5  12.4  11.6  10.6 
11. 1  10.9  13.3  14.1  10.7  12.0 
11.0  10.8  14.0  13.4  10.9  10.5 
Glycyrrhizin  in  original  root  by  75%  Alcohol, 
The  95  per  cent  alcoholic  extracts,  after  drying,  were  treated 
with  warm  water.  Only  a  minute  trace  of  glycyrrhizin  could  be  de- 
tected by  tasting  or  by  precipitation  with  sulphuric  acid. 
The  residual  root  after  the  60  per  cent,  alcoholic  extraction  con- 
tained no  glycyrrhizin. 
The  direct  results  on  original  root  are,  on  the  average,  some- 
what higher  than  those  on  roots  previously  freed  from  resins  and 
bitter  principles. 
