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...1 m long and about 1 cm (0.4 in.) in diameter. They are soft, fibrous, and flexible and are coloured bright yellow inside. The distinctive sweetness of licorice is imparted by a substance called glycyrrhizin.
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...1 m long and about 1 cm (0.4 in.) in diameter. They are soft, fibrous, and flexible and are coloured bright yellow inside. The distinctive sweetness of licorice is imparted by a substance called glycyrrhizin.
perennial herb of the Fabaceae family, and the flavouring, confection, and medicine made from its roots, similar in their sweet, slightly bitter flavour to anise. The Greek name glykyrrhiza, of which the word licorice is a corruption, means “sweet root.”
Native to southern Europe, licorice is cultivated around the Mediterranean and in parts of the United States. An effective mask for the taste of medicines, licorice is an ingredient in cough lozenges, syrups, and elixirs. It is a flavouring agent in candies and tobacco. In medicine, licorice has been used to treat peptic ulcers and Addison’s disease.
The herb may grow up to 1 metre (3 feet) tall and has compound leaves with four to eight oval leaflets, axillary clusters of blue flowers, and flat pods from 7 to 10 centimetres (3 to 4 inches) long. The roots used are about 1 m long and about 1 cm (0.4 in.) in diameter. They are soft, fibrous, and flexible and are coloured bright yellow inside. The distinctive sweetness of licorice is imparted by a substance called glycyrrhizin.
The preparation of the juice by boiling crushed and ground roots is an industry along the Mediterranean coasts. The pliable, semi-vitreous stick form of licorice candy, also called licorice paste or black sugar, is processed from the thickened juice.
...and marketed with alcoholic content of 68 percent by volume. Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium; see photograph) is the chief flavouring ingredient; other aromatic ingredients include licorice (which usually predominates in the aroma), hyssop, fennel, angelica root, aniseed, and star aniseed. The beverage was first produced commercially in 1797 by Henry-Louis Pernod, who purchased...
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