Licorice root is harvested from the rhizome of a semi-tropical plant
in the bean family that comes from Europe and some parts of Asia. This
species, also known as sweet wood licorice and European licorice, is the
one most familiar as a culinary herb.
In addition to tea, licorice root lends its flavor to simple syrups and
lozenges, although the conventional licorice hard candies and “rope”
sweet treat actually feature oil of anise as the primary flavoring agent
with licorice added for sweetness. Licorice is also used in the
pharmaceutical industry as a natural sweetener and flavor enhancer. In
fact, due to the presence of natural glycyrrhizic acid, a compound that’s many
times sweeter than sugar, licorice is also known as sweet root.
