Licorice (also spelled "liquorice") extract is the part of licorice root that dissolves in hot water. It is concentrated and sold as a block or paste, a powder or a liquid. The US food rule names these forms: licorice extract "is sold as a liquid, paste ("block"), or spray-dried powder" (21 CFR 184.1408).

The rule treats paste and block as one form, and so does this article. Medicines also use a semi-solid "soft extract". Most forms start from the same hot-water extract and differ mainly in how much water is left; some pharmacopoeia grades are extracted with alcohol.

A specification for an extract sets its glycyrrhizic acid content, its dry matter or moisture, and the methods used to measure them. This article covers how each form is made, how it is specified, which industries use it, and how customs classify it.

How licorice extract is made

The usual method is the same for every form: the root is cut or ground, extracted with hot water, and the extract is concentrated. The EU's Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products summarises it: extraction techniques "generally include initial comminution of the root and extraction with hot water and steam. The primary extract may be concentrated to a paste and cast into blocks or sticks or dried to a powder" (EMA assessment report, 2026, section 1.1, citing Fry 2012).

  1. Cutting or grinding. The root is reduced to small pieces.
  2. Extraction. The US rule defines the extract as "that portion of the licorice root that is, after maceration, extracted by boiling water" (21 CFR 184.1408). Maceration means soaking.
  3. Concentration. Most of the water is evaporated. For botanical extracts in general, the US Pharmacopeia describes concentration "generally by distillation under reduced pressure" (USP chapter 565): under vacuum, so that the water boils off at a lower temperature.
  4. Finishing. The concentrate is cast as a block, kept as a paste, dried to a powder or made up as a liquid (next section).

The extract can also be refined. The US rule adds that it "can be further purified by filtration and by treatment with acids and ethyl alcohol". Products made from it are described under Further processing.

The method was the same in outline in the 19th century. In 1885 the US consul in Catania, Sicily, described roots washed, crushed under a millstone and boiled for 24 hours. The juice was pressed out, filtered, and boiled down until it was "dense enough for paste". It was then cast in wooden moulds as cakes or rolled into sticks (US Department of State, 1885, pp. 14–15).

It takes several kilograms of root to make one of extract. The EU's contaminant regulation notes that "1 kg of extract is obtained from 3 to 4 kg of liquorice root" (Regulation (EU) 2023/915, Annex I, entry 1.2.19). In 1885 the US consul at Cadiz reported yields from dried root of 18–20 % for paste of the best grade and 25–28 % for ordinary paste (p. 13).

The forms: block and paste, soft extract, powder and liquid

Licorice block or paste

Block licorice is the concentrated extract cast into blocks, cakes or sticks, where it sets solid. The EU's Scientific Committee on Food uses the name for "the crude dried aqueous extracts", which "may contain 4-25% glycyrrhizinic acid in the form of calcium, magnesium and potassium salts" (SCF 2003, p. 4).

The words "paste" and "block" overlap. The EMA text above calls the concentrate a paste and the cast form a block. In 1885 the consul in Catania describes the extract boiled down until "dense enough for paste", then cast as cakes and wrapped once "cold and hard". He reports 112,746 pounds of licorice paste exported to New York in 1884 (p. 15). In 1911 the US Supreme Court called licorice paste "an essential ingredient in the manufacture of plug tobacco" (United States v. American Tobacco Co., 221 U.S. 106).

Soft extract (medicines)

A soft extract is close to a trade paste in consistency, but it is a category of the medicines standards. The US Pharmacopeia defines semisolid (soft) extracts as having consistencies "between those of fluidextracts and those of powdered extracts" (chapter 565). The EU herbal monograph lists two licorice soft extracts made with water (EMA monograph, 2026).

The monograph identifies them by their drug-extract ratio (DER): the weight of root used for each unit of extract. One is 3:1 (3 kg of root for 1 kg of extract). The other is 1:0.4–0.5 (2–2.5 kg of root for 1 kg).

Spray-dried extract powder

Powder is the extract dried completely, for example by spray drying. The European and US pharmacopoeias, the official books of drug standards, both have a standard entry (a monograph) for it:

  • The European Pharmacopoeia's "Liquorice dry extract for flavouring purposes" is made from cut root "by a suitable procedure using water" and "contains 5 to 7% of 18 β-glycyrrhizic acid". It is described as "a yellowish-brown or brown powder with a very sweet taste" (Ph. Eur. 2378, quoted in the EMA assessment report, section 1.1).
  • The US Pharmacopeia's Powdered Licorice Extract, a dietary-supplement monograph, is made with water or a solvent such as alcohol, at a DER between 5:1 and 7:1 (USP–NF).

Liquid extract (fluidextract)

Liquid extracts are made up with water and, in the pharmacopoeia grades, alcohol. In the US Pharmacopeia, a fluidextract is a liquid in which 1 mL holds the extract of 1 g of root (chapter 565). Its Licorice Fluidextract is made by passing boiling water slowly through the root (percolation). Dilute ammonia is added, and the liquid is boiled down and filtered. Alcohol is then added, to 20.0–24.0 % of the finished product (USP 32).

ESCOP, a European body that publishes reference texts on herbal medicines, describes a standardised liquid extract in ethanol with 4.0 % glycyrrhizic acid by weight and 52–65 % ethanol by volume (ESCOP 2003, quoted in the EMA assessment report, section 2.2).

The forms compared

FormPhysical stateDry matter (standard)Glycyrrhizic acid (source)Main uses
Block or pasteSolid, cast in blocks, cakes or sticks; or thick pasteNo public standard found4–25 % in crude block (SCF 2003); 4.4–9.8 % glycyrrhizin in UK block samples (1990)Confectionery, tobacco
Soft extractSemi-solidAt least 70 % (USP 565)About 4.7–4.8 % in two Danish medicines (calculated from EMA figures)Oral liquid medicines
PowderPowder, for example spray-driedAt least 95 % (USP 565)5–7 % (Ph. Eur. 2378); at least 6.0 % of dry matter (USP); 7.9–11.3 % glycyrrhizin in UK powder samples (1990)Flavouring, including medicines; dietary supplements
LiquidLiquid; pharmacopoeia grades contain alcohol; 1 mL = 1 g of root (USP)Set per product (USP 565)4.0 % by weight (ESCOP)Medicines; also named as a food form (21 CFR)

Dry matter is the residue left after evaporation, as a share of the weight. The UK figures are glycyrrhizin from a survey of 42 products (Spinks and Fenwick 1990), as reported in the EMA assessment report; the Danish figures are 4.64 mg glycyrrhizic acid in 98.5 mg and 3.92 mg in 80.9 mg of soft extract (section 2.1.1). The other figures are set or reported by the sources named.

How licorice extract is specified

The standards read for this article set four kinds of requirement: glycyrrhizic acid; dry matter; ash and contaminants; and solvent, ratio and additives. A fifth, solubility, is left to the buyer. A figure means little without its method and basis.

This section summarises public texts as read on the dates given under Sources; it is not legal advice, and the rules that apply depend on the product, its use and its market.

Glycyrrhizic acid content

Glycyrrhizic acid (also called glycyrrhizinic acid) is the root's main sweet constituent and the usual measure of an extract's strength. Two points matter when comparing figures:

  • The method. "Glycyrrhizin" was historically the name for "the crude acid extract of liquorice isolated by the Houseman (1922) gravimetric method", a weighed fraction; glycyrrhizic acid is only "a component of glycyrrhizin" (JECFA, WHO Food Additives Series 54, p. 563). A glycyrrhizin figure and a glycyrrhizic acid figure are therefore not the same measure. The US Pharmacopeia measures glycyrrhizic acid against its own reference standard; the US food rule refers to methods of AOAC International, a standards body, for glycyrrhizin.
  • The basis. The US Pharmacopeia states its 6.0 % minimum "on the dried basis". For a paste or a liquid, a figure on the product as it is ("as is") includes its water, so it is lower than the same extract's figure on dry matter.

Product makers need the figure because limits and labels are set in glycyrrhizin or glycyrrhizic acid, not in extract. The US rule sets maximum levels in food as served, as glycyrrhizin: for example 16.0 % in hard candy, 3.1 % in soft candy, 1.1 % in chewing gum and 0.1 % in foods not listed separately (21 CFR 184.1408(c)).

In the EU, confectionery with 100 mg/kg or more of glycyrrhizinic acid or its ammonium salt (added as such or as the licorice plant) must be labelled "contains liquorice", and so must drinks with 10 mg/l or more. This does not apply when the word is already in the name or the ingredients list. Confectionery from 4 g/kg, and drinks from 50 mg/l (300 mg/l above 1.2 % alcohol), carry a longer statement (Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex III, point 3).

Dry matter and moisture

Water content is what separates the forms. The US Pharmacopeia's chapter on botanical extracts requires at least 95 % residue on evaporation for a powdered extract and at least 70 % for a semisolid one (chapter 565). Its Powdered Licorice Extract may lose not more than 10.0 % of its weight on drying at 105 °C for 6 hours (USP 35). No public standard read for this article sets the moisture of block extract, so the buyer sets it in the specification.

Ash and contaminants

  • US food rule: for licorice, ash not more than 9.5 % and acid-insoluble ash not more than 2.5 %, both calculated on dry weight; heavy metals (as lead) not more than 40 mg/kg; arsenic not more than 3 mg/kg (21 CFR 184.1408(b)).
  • US Pharmacopeia, powdered extract: total ash not more than 12.0 %; heavy metals not more than 30 mg/kg; pesticide residues to the general chapter (USP 35).
  • EU, extract for food: ochratoxin A not more than 80 µg/kg (Regulation (EU) 2023/915, Annex I, entry 1.2.19).

Solvent, ratio and additives

The label of the US Pharmacopeia's Powdered Licorice Extract states its glycyrrhizic acid content, the extraction solvent and the ratio of starting material to final product (USP 35). Any carrier or other inactive ingredient added to a powdered or semisolid extract is named with its quantity (chapter 565). The EU herbal monograph identifies each extract the same way, by solvent and DER.

Solubility

None of the public standards read for this article sets a solubility test for licorice extract. A buyer who needs one, for a powder that goes into a drink for example, names it in the specification.

Which industry uses which form

The EU's Scientific Committee on Food listed the products through which glycyrrhizinic acid reaches people: "liquorice confectionery and sweets, but also [...] beverages, chewing gum, tooth paste and medicinal products", and tobacco (SCF 2003, p. 5). The sources link the forms to these uses as follows.

  • Confectionery. Block or paste. Some sweets are made of extract alone: the SCF notes, from Dutch samples, that "bay liquorice" "consists of 100% dried Glycyrrhiza root extract", and found 25–28 mg/g glycyrrhizinic acid in two brands of it (p. 6). A 2023 Danish survey found about 1.5–2.3 % glycyrrhizic acid (14,935–23,154 mg/kg) in "pure liquorice" products, a product category rather than extract alone (Ballin et al., in the EMA assessment report, section 1.1).
  • Tobacco. Block or paste. The 1885 report quotes the Encyclopaedia Britannica: "a considerable quantity of licorice is used in the preparation of tobacco for chewing" (p. 5). In 2003 the SCF noted that licorice extract, at up to 4 %, "is also added to tobacco products, including chewing tobacco" (p. 9). In the EU, licorice is on the priority list of additives in cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco, on which makers must report in more detail (Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/787).
  • Medicines. Powder, soft extract and liquid. The European Pharmacopoeia's dry extract is made for flavouring. The EMA records oral liquids containing licorice soft extract authorised in Denmark for more than 70 years, and one in Germany from at least 1976 until 2012 (EMA assessment report, section 2.1.1).
  • Further processing. Crude water extract is also the raw material for ammoniated glycyrrhizin and monoammonium glycyrrhizinate. Adding acid makes the glycyrrhizin settle out; neutralising it with dilute ammonia gives ammoniated glycyrrhizin, and solvent purification gives the monoammonium salt (21 CFR 184.1408(a)(2); SCF 2003, pp. 4–5). These have their own customs heading (below).

Customs classification: HS 1302.12

Licorice extract generally falls under one subheading of the Harmonized System (HS), the customs classification most countries use, whatever its form. The subheading is 1302.12, "of liquorice", under heading 13.02, vegetable saps and extracts. It covers extract with not more than 10 % sucrose by weight that is not put up as confectionery. The legal note to Chapter 13 says heading 13.02 "applies, inter alia, to liquorice extract", and lists exclusions, including (WCO, HS 2022, heading 13.02):

  • "Liquorice extract containing more than 10 % by weight of sucrose or put up as confectionery" goes to heading 17.04, sugar confectionery.
  • "Glycyrrhizin or other products of heading [...] 29.38" are excluded. Purified glycyrrhizic acid and its salts are classified there; the UK tariff, for example, has a line 2938 90 30 "Glycyrrhizic acid and glycyrrhizates" (UK Trade Tariff, heading 2938).
  • Medicaments of headings 30.03 and 30.04 are excluded too.

The classification of a particular product is decided by the customs authority of the importing country. The root itself is not under 1302.12. The 2002 edition of the HS had a subheading for licorice roots, 1211.10. The 2007 edition deleted it, so the root now falls under 1211.90, "other" (WCO, HS 2002; HS 2007).

One subheading covers every form, from crude block to spray-dried powder, so trade statistics cannot separate them. Trade under 1302.12 is covered in our article Licorice extract in world trade, 2000–2025. Among the countries that had reported 2024 data to UN Comtrade by October 2026, Uzbekistan's exports were the largest by value.

About the supplier

Bogot Master supplies licorice root for extraction and does not make extract. Its extraction partner, "Licorice Extract" LLC, makes a licorice root extract that Bogot Master supplies as a raw material for further purification. It is not an extract for direct use in food, tobacco, cosmetics or medicines, and the standards described in this article are not its specification.

Sources

Read on 30 October 2026 unless another date is given. The US Pharmacopeia texts marked "mirror" are older editions (USP 32, 2009; USP 35, 2012) reproduced on drugfuture.com; the current USP–NF is by subscription, and its public preview of Powdered Licorice Extract was checked for the definition, ratio and glycyrrhizic acid minimum.