Screening and establishment of the high-glycyrrhizin strain of licorice, Glycyrrhiza uralensis

Licorice, the root and stolon of Glycyrrhiza uralensis, is among the most important crude drugs in traditional oriental medicine. Glycyrrhizin, a triterpenoid saponin, is a major bioactive compound having several pharmacological activities. Here, we describe the screening of high-glycyrrhizin type strain from a same age population of G. uralensis cultivated under the same conditions in a field. Glycyrrhizin content of the selected strain was reached over 4% (average 2.11%, n=100). We established clonal plants of the selected high-glycyrrhizin strain using in virto micro-propagation by plant tissue culture.