The root of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. is commonly used in phytotherapy. The sap onin fraction is thought to be the main active component. However, several communications about the activity of deglycyrrhized licorice have appeared recently (1).Most of industrial methods of licorice root processing concentrate on obtaining glycyrrhizin, whereas the nascent lyes are treated as a waste substance. This causes not only economic losses but also a serious problem for the natural environment, due to the after-glycyrrhizin sewage.The employment the deglycyrrhized extracts, obtained from licorice, for medical purposes (2, 3), suggested the idea for using industrial waste lyes here. Laboratory research, confirmed subsequently on a technical scale, exhibited the possibility of obtaining a concentrate rich in flavonoid components. Moreover, nse of the original method did not cause any damage in the basic production of glycyrrhizin.Process efficiency From 1.0 t of licorice root containing 0.65 % of flavonoids, a fraction of 238 kg was obtained. Its flavonoid content, counted with reference to liquiritigen containing only vestigial amounts of glycyrrhizin, was about 1.09%.
Analytical researchAccording to our own method of isolation, licuraside was obtained from raw material. Liquiritigenin and isoliquiritigenin were sub seqnently obtained by a method involving acid hydrolysis. These compounds were separated by rotary thin layer chromatography, and then were applied as standards in quantitative analyses.Quantitative determination of isoliquiritigenin and liquiritigenin was performed by spectrophotometric, colorimetric (4), and densitometric methods and by HPLC. Comparison of these methods showed that the colorimetric method is the least useful one, whereas the most reliable results were achieved by the HPLC method. Spectrophotometric and densitometric methods are useful for routine analyses (5).Pharmacologic screening of a flavonoid extract confirmed its spasmolytic, anti-systolic, and anti-ulcerous effect, with a lack of toxicity. Various plants, such as Corylus avellana L. (Betulaceae) (cortex, fibs, folium), Fragaria vesca L. (Rosaceae) (folium, rhizoma), Parnassia palustris L. (Saxifragaceae) (caulis, fibs, fohum), and Juglans regia L. (Juglandaceae) (folium) were tested by means of the TAS technique after Stahl(1, 2). The plant material was collected in the Sarajevo surroundings, dried in a thin layer, and pulverized before the investigation.The presence and type of tannin were investigated using the following reagents characteristic for tannins (3, 4): FeC1,, gelatin, FeNH4(S04),, strychnine nitrate, Br2-water, and formaldehyde-H Cl. The results obtained showed that the investigated tannins belonged to the class of catechin tannins, except for Fragaria and Juglandis folia which contained pyrogallic tannins. They have positive reactions with Br,-H,O, and there was a green precipitate with FeC1,. Reactions with KCN and NaNO, are negative in all samples, which indicated that there were no gallic or ellagic acids present (4). The i...