Licorice
Licorice belongs to the plants of pea thriving in the Mediterranean and West Asian regions. The sweet taste derives from the glycyrrhizin, a glycoside, which contains about 50 times sweeter than cane sugar, contained in the plant. Main licorice cultivation regions are Iran, Afghanistan, China and Turkey.
Three years after the planting of the liquorice plant, the first harvest can be conducted. The roots are first cleaned and then peeled, dried and according to the production cause milled. Licorice blocks rank as the most exported product. For this purpose, the harvested licorice is first shredded into small pieces before the shredded pieces are being cooked for days under the boiling point, extracting the juice. 10 kg of shredded licorice make up to approximately 1 kg of raw licorice. The raw liquorice is dried in block form before being delivered to trading. In addition to the block form licorice is also traded in ground or liquid form as well as granules or roots.
Licorice finds its use in the food as well as in the healthcare industry.
Licorice is said to have a healing effect due to its anti-inflammatory substances.