Licorice root for cosmetic ingredients and products

Bogot Master supplies wild licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra) from Khorezm, Uzbekistan, to makers of cosmetic ingredients and products: as root powder, and as cut root for extraction. This page gives the ingredient names the root falls under in the EU's CosIng database, the EU rules a cosmetics maker works under, and the data we can give you. It says nothing about what licorice does in a cosmetic product: under EU law, that claim belongs to the maker of the finished product.

Who buys licorice root for cosmetics

• Makers of botanical extracts for cosmetics, who extract the root themselves and buy cut or crushed root as feedstock.
• Makers who put the dried root into a formula as a powder.
• Makers of glycyrrhizic acid and its salts: ammoniated glycyrrhizin, for one, is made from the root's water extract; see our extraction page.

INCI names in CosIng

CosIng is the European Commission's database of cosmetic ingredients. Its entries for the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra, as we read them on 25 October 2026:

CosIng describes them as "the powder obtained from the roots", "the roots" and "an extract of the roots" of the licorice, Glycyrrhiza glabra L. It also lists:

• GLYCYRRHIZA GLABRA RHIZOME/ROOT, for "the dried rhizomes and roots" (CAS 68916-91-6, EC 272-837-1), and GLYCYRRHIZA GLABRA RHIZOME/ROOT EXTRACT;
• names for the root juice, root water and root oil;
• the compounds glycyrrhizic acid, ammonium glycyrrhizate, dipotassium glycyrrhizate and glycyrrhetinic acid.

None of these entries is in the regulation's annexes of restricted or prohibited substances. Which name goes on your label is your choice as the maker; we give you the botanical name, the plant part and the origin to support it. CosIng also lists the functions reported for each name. We do not repeat them, for the reason given above.

EU rules

Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products sets out who answers for what:

• The responsible person. A cosmetic product may be placed on the EU market only with a "responsible person" in the EU, who ensures that it complies with the regulation (Article 4). Before the product goes on the market, that person makes sure it has a safety assessment and a cosmetic product safety report (Article 10).
• The ingredient name on the label. The list of ingredients uses the common ingredient name from the Commission's glossary, which takes account of INCI (Articles 19(6) and 33). The regulation adds that the glossary "shall not constitute a list of the substances authorised for use in cosmetic products": a name in CosIng is not an approval.
• Claims. The labelling and advertising of a cosmetic product must not imply characteristics or functions it does not have (Article 20(1)). The common criteria for justifying a claim are in Commission Regulation (EU) No 655/2013. Claims are made, and supported, by the maker of the finished product.
• Heavy metals. Lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic, with their compounds, are prohibited substances (Annex II, entries 289, 68, 221 and 43). A small, non-intended trace that comes from a natural ingredient is permitted only when it is technically unavoidable in good manufacturing practice (Article 17), and the safety report must give evidence of that (Annex I, Part A, point 4).

The data you can have from us

The safety report needs the microbiological specification of each substance and its purity (Annex I, Part A, points 3 and 4). For our root:

These are the figures for dried root, the same on every root product page. Set the limits your own ingredient or product needs, and we quote against them.

• Certificate of analysis: for every export load, from a professional laboratory in Uzbekistan that you can choose. It always covers glycyrrhizic acid, ash and moisture. Lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, pesticide residues or microbiology are added when you name them in your enquiry.
• Origin: all our root is wild Glycyrrhiza glabra, dug across Khorezm under a permit from the National Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Ecology and Climate Change. A certificate of origin goes with every load. More on the origin page.
• Treatment: every load is fumigated with phosphine (aluminium phosphide) before shipping, and the root is never irradiated. The steps from dug root to packed bag are on the processing page.
• Certificates: we hold no quality certificate, such as ISO or GMP, and no organic or natural-cosmetics certification. Instead, you can test free samples of 100–200 g per grade, and audit our site.

What the CIR Expert Panel asks of the ingredient

The US Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel assessed the licorice root ingredients themselves, among them GLYCYRRHIZA GLABRA (LICORICE) ROOT, ROOT POWDER and ROOT EXTRACT, in a final report of 23 September 2008. It concluded that they "are safe as cosmetic ingredients in the practices of use and concentration given in this safety assessment". That conclusion is about the ingredients in general, not about any one lot; the safety assessment of your product stays with you. On purity, the Panel asked the industry to:

• limit pesticide residues and heavy metals in the ingredient before it is blended into a formulation;
• limit mycotoxins in the same way, and keep the ingredients free of methanol;
• keep aflatoxin out: it adopted the USDA designation of 15 ppb or less as a "negative" aflatoxin content.

Aflatoxin is not part of our standard certificate of analysis: name it in your enquiry, and the laboratory adds it to the load's certificate.

If you make glycyrrhizic acid, glycyrrhetinic acid or their salts from our root, the Panel's 2007 report on those compounds is also a useful reference. It noted that they are not plant extracts, powders or juices, and advised limits for them: total PCB and pesticide residues of not more than 40 ppm, with not more than 10 ppm for any one residue; not more than 3 mg/kg of arsenic; not more than 0.002 % heavy metals; and not more than 1 mg/kg of lead. These limits are for the compounds, not for the root; name the tests you need, and the laboratory adds them.

Forms we supply

• Powder: milled from washed, dried root, 1 mm or less.
• Cut root for extraction: granules (3–4 mm), crushed root (2–3 mm) and tablets (A, 1.2 and mixed sizes). The feedstock grades are on the extraction page.
• Licorice extract: made by our extraction partner, "Licorice Extract" LLC, not by us. It is a raw material for further purification, into glycyrrhizic acid and the root's other components, not an extract for direct use in a cosmetic formula. Ask us for its specification.

Packing is PP bags of 20, 21, 25 or 30 kg, or the packing you specify. For a quote or a sample, use the button below.

Sources

• European Commission, CosIng, entries for Glycyrrhiza glabra and for lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic, read on 25 October 2026.
• Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products, Articles 4, 10, 17, 19, 20 and 33, Annex I and Annex II (consolidated text of 18 May 2026), read on 25 October 2026.
• Commission Regulation (EU) No 655/2013, common criteria for the justification of claims used in relation to cosmetic products.
• Cosmetic Ingredient Review, final report on the safety assessment of the Glycyrrhiza glabra, G. inflata and G. uralensis root and leaf ingredients, 23 September 2008: Discussion and Conclusion; read on 26 October 2026.
• Cosmetic Ingredient Review, final report on the safety assessment of glycyrrhetinic acid, glycyrrhizic acid and their salts and esters, International Journal of Toxicology, 2007, 26 Suppl 2: 79–112; abstract read on 25 October 2026.