The ecological benefits of licorice plantation are:

Lowering the level of groundwater;
Reduction of salt content in the soil profile;
Increase of soil fertility.
Licorice has the ability, without harm to its normal life, to accumulate in its roots the ions of water-soluble salts by forming a complex with glycyrrhizic acid. In other words, with their annual alienation with harvest, a certain amount of harmful salts is removed, which significantly reduces the degree of soil salinization and significantly improves the ecological state of the land. No less important is the fact that wind erosion is also prevented, which contributes to the development of harmful salt streams on the surface of saline massifs.

Economic benefits

The economic benefits of growing licorice on low-yielding lands are the possibility of obtaining significant third-or fourth-year revenue from the sale of licorice in fresh or dry form to domestic processors or exporters.

In addition to the root of lacrification, in the second year after planting it is possible to collect about 6 tons of terrestrial biomass, and in the third year already 15 tons. Studies have shown that the protein content in the licorice biomass is 2 times higher than the protein content in alfalfa, which can make the biomass of lacrification a very attractive, nutritious and valuable food (necessarily in dry form, in the form of straw) for local breeds of large and small cattle.

Also, analyzes have shown that it is economically expedient to divert low-productive lands from cotton production to licorice plantations, which will allow the farmer to obtain economic benefits. It should be taken into account that growing licorice with 4-year cycles is more economically attractive and effective in comparison with 3-year cycles, as evidenced by the high net present value of profit, the level of profitability and a higher level of profitability.

Positive values ​​of the net present value of profit even in the 3-year cycle of growing liquorice speak in favor of investing in the cultivation of licorice plantations by farmers.Licorice root

Application

Licorice is widely used as a medicinal, food and technical plant, as a foaming agent.

In medicine

About the medicinal use of licorice is said in the ancient monument of Chinese medicine "Treatise on herbs" written 3000 years BC. E. For millennia, Chinese doctors referred the licorice root to first class medicines and tried to include it in all medicinal mixtures. In Tibet, it was believed that the roots of licorice "contribute to longevity and a better departure of the six senses." The roots of the plant were widely used in Assyria and Sumer, from where they were borrowed by the doctors of Ancient Egypt.

The medicinal value has roots and rhizomes. They are part of the drugs recommended for diseases of the upper respiratory tract as expectorant, emollient, anti-inflammatory, as part of diuretic and laxatives, as antacid and enveloping in hyperacid gastritis, peptic ulcer of stomach and duodenum ("Lycviriton", "Flacarbine"), with Bronchial asthma, neurodermatitis, allergic and occupational dermatitis, eczema ("Glitsira"), rheumatism, gout, hemorrhoids. Licorice powder is also used in pharmaceutical practice as a basis for pills and for improving the taste and smell of medicines.

In cooking

Roots and rhizomes of plants in the food industry are used in the form of extracts, syrups, as a surrogate of sugar and a foaming agent in soft drinks, beer, kvass, tonic beverages; For better knocking down egg whites.

The plant is used for making coffee, cocoa, marinades, compotes, jelly, flour products, halva, caramel, pastille and chocolate; As well as a flavoring aid in the processing of fish, when cabbage is sour, apples and cranberries are drunk, as an additive to green tea and green tea; In Kyrgyzstan - as a substitute for tea, in Japan - as a food antioxidant supplement, in Japan and Egypt - among the components of additives with bactericidal and fungicidal properties for food and beverages.

In industry

It is used as a blowing agent in industry, in particular, for froth flotation in metallurgy and as a part of mixtures for filling fire extinguishers.

In the Caucasus and Central Asia, decoction of the roots is colored with wool and koshmy. Liquorice is used in the manufacture of ink, carcass and rubber, in the textile industry for fixing paints.

In the tobacco industry - for flavoring and flavoring of chewing, smoking and snuff; In Japan - in the production of non-nicotine surrogate cigarettes.

It is used as an ornamental plant and sand-fixer.Licorice root

The roots and rhizomes of licorice contain carbohydrates and related compounds (glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose), polysaccharides (starch to 34%, cellulose 30%, pectic substances), organic acids (succinic, fumaric, citric, malic, tartaric), etheric oil, triterpenoids (glycyrrhizinic acid) resin, steroids (β-sitosterol), phenol carbonic acids and their derivatives (ferulic, sinomovuyu, salicylic), coumarins (herniarin, umbelliferone, etc.), tannins (8,3-14,2 %), Flavonoids (liquidoritin, isolikviritin, liquidoritoside, quercetin, empferol, apigenin etc.), higher aliphatic hydrocarbons and alcohols, higher fatty acids, alkaloids.

Glycyrrhizic acid, which contains up to 23% of licorice, gives them a sweet taste. This made it possible to apply glycyrrhizic acid in clinical nutrition of diabetics, for example, in Japan, where forbidden saccharin. Glycyrrhizic acid has an action reminiscent of the action of deoxycorticosterone and cortisone.

Preparations of licorice irritate mucosal glandular secretion amplifying apparatus in connection with which it is a part of expectorants, diuretics and laxatives. This action is due to the content in the raw material of saponins, which have an expectorant, smyagchitelnoe and enveloping effect.

Good honey and perganas.Licorice root

Licorice, or Licorice naked (Latin Glycyrrhíza glábra) is a perennial herbaceous plant; Species of the genus Licorice (Glycyrrhiza) of the family Legumes (Fabaceae).

Rhizome thick, multi-headed, woody; Gives a single sheer, penetrating for several meters (up to 5 m), a simple or unbranched root and a horizontal complex network of 5-30 roots-stolons 1-2 m in length and lying at a depth of 30-40 cm. Rhizomes and roots outside are brown, On a break - yellowish.

Stems are several, they are upright, simple or unbranched, short-furry, with a height of 0.5-0.8 to 2 m.
Leaves alternate odd-pinnate, 5-20 cm in length, consist of three to ten pairs of oval or oblong-ovate, entire leaves with tips at the apex. The leaves are covered with sticky pinpoint glands. Stipules are small, subulate, by the time of flowering they fall off.

Flowers 8-12 mm in diameter, in friable 5-8-flowering axillary brushes, peduncles 3-5 cm long. Cup with narrow lanceolate teeth equal to or exceeding the tube. Corolla whitish-violet, irregular, butterfly.

The fruit is a leathery, straight or curved brown bean with two to six seeds, 2-3 cm long, 4-6 mm wide, glabrous or seared with glandular spines. Seeds are kidney-shaped, shiny, greenish-gray or brownish.
Flowering from June to August. Fruits ripen in August - September.
Propagated by seeds, vegetatively and by rhizome cuttings. In vegetative propagation, each stolon root carries a kidney at the end, from which a daughter plant develops, which gives the above-ground stems, a steep root and a new network of stony roots. Thus licorice spreads over long distances and forms dense thicketsLicorice root

An alternative to modern practice of desalinization of lands, which requires a large expenditure of irrigation water and worsens soil properties, can be a biological method of restoring fertility by growing licorice.
Licorice increases the content of agronomically valuable waterproof aggregates by 70-80%, reduces the volumetric mass of the soil to the optimum density (1.3-1.4 g / cm3). Roots, penetrating to a depth of 3.5-4 m, consume a huge amount of saline groundwater, reducing their level and promoting desalinization of the earth to a weak degree. The humus content rises from 0.7% to 1.5-1.64% (depending on the age of the plants), and also enriches the soil with nutrients, due to the accumulation of nitrogen (in leaves), phosphorus (in stems) and potassium (in seeds ).
Licorice is planted vegetatively (rhizomes) on degraded or low-productive lands, where production of other crops is unprofitable. Care of crops is minimal (fertilization, cultivation, irrigation). Licorice wins in competition with weeds, including reeds. On one place grows more than ten years. After the rotation, the rhizomes are removed and the field is prepared for a different culture. Difficulty is the harvesting of powerful rhizomes penetrating to great depth. The concomitant benefit of growing licorice for reclamation purposes is the profit from the sale of roots and aboveground mass, which possess medicinal properties, valuable forage qualities for animals. With proper care, the roots can be harvested as early as the 3rd year, the yield will be 10 tonnes / ha. The profit is about 11 million. Sum. From 1 hectareLicorice root

Glycyrrhiza glabra . has a high environment-optimizing function, enriching the soil with organic matter and improving the physical, chemical properties and biological activity of the soil, creating the basis for sustainable reproduction of the fertility of degraded saline lands.Licorice root

Licorice root

Growing licorice in conditions of saline lands is a promising solution and an additional measure to effectively combat salinization in the region, but not a panacea for all ills. Do not forget about the importance of sustainable land and water management methods. Nevertheless, the economic and social benefits of growing licorice are undeniable: creating additional jobs and income opportunities for rural households (goals pursued by state and international organizations). Licorice derives its name from the phrase "sweet root", the sugary sweet taste of the rhizome of this plant has long been known to people. It may happen that this "sweet root", in one of the days, will make the life of people living in saline lands a little sweeter.