Glossary of licorice root trade terms

Updated

Short definitions of the terms buyers meet in licorice trade, quality testing and shipping. They describe each term in general; what we offer is on the product pages and the shipping page. Every term has its own address, for example bogotmaster.org/buyers-guide/glossary#fca: click the # beside a term to get it.

The plant

Glycyrrhiza glabra#

The licorice species we supply: a perennial of the legume family, native from the Mediterranean to Central Asia. Its dried roots and stolons are the licorice root of trade. More in our article on the plant.

Glycyrrhiza uralensis and G. inflata#

Two related licorice species that grow further east, chiefly in northern China and Mongolia. The European Pharmacopoeia accepts the roots of all three species as liquorice root.

Root and stolon#

Licorice spreads by stolons: underground runners from which new shoots grow. The pharmacopoeia defines liquorice root as the dried root and stolons, peeled or unpeeled, whole or cut.

Peeled and unpeeled#

Peeled root has had its brown outer bark removed, which shows the yellow inside; unpeeled root keeps the bark. The pharmacopoeia accepts both. We peel by hand and by machine: see peeled sticks.

Liquiritiae radix#

The Latin pharmacopoeial name of liquorice root, used by the European Pharmacopoeia (monograph 0277) and the EU herbal monograph. In German it is Süßholzwurzel; in Russian, «солодки корни».

Chemistry

Glycyrrhizin#

The main sweet compound of licorice root: a saponin made of glycyrrhetinic acid joined to two glucuronic acid units. In the root it occurs as potassium and calcium salts of 18β-glycyrrhizic acid. It is usually put at about 50 times as sweet as sugar.

18β-Glycyrrhizic acid#

The acid form of glycyrrhizin, also called glycyrrhizinic acid. The European Pharmacopoeia grades liquorice root by it: not less than 4.0 % of the dried root.

Glycyrrhetinic acid#

The non-sugar part (aglycone) of glycyrrhizin, also called glycyrrhetic acid: what remains when the two glucuronic acid units are split off.

Glabridin#

The principal isoflavan of G. glabra root. With glycycoumarin (G. uralensis) and licochalcone A (G. inflata), it is one of the typical compounds used to tell the three species apart.

Liquiritin#

One of the major flavonoids of licorice root: a glycoside of liquiritigenin. Isoliquiritin and liquiritin apioside belong to the same group.

Quality and testing

Specification#

The agreed list of a product's properties and limits, with the test method for each: what the buyer tests the delivered lot against.

Certificate of analysis (COA)#

A document giving the test results of one lot against its specification, with the methods and the laboratory. The WHO publishes a model certificate of analysis. Each of our export loads has a COA from a professional laboratory in Uzbekistan, which you can choose; it always covers glycyrrhizic acid, ash and moisture.

Lot number#

The code that identifies one batch, so that its documents, samples and test results can be traced.

Retained sample#

A sample kept from a shipped lot, so that a later question can be checked on the same material. We keep a sample of every shipment for one year.

Pharmacopoeia and monograph#

A pharmacopoeia is an official book of quality standards for medicines and their ingredients; a monograph is its section on one substance, with the definition, the identification tests and the limits. Liquorice root is monograph 0277 of the European Pharmacopoeia.

Ph. Eur.#

The European Pharmacopoeia, published by the Council of Europe's European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines (EDQM).

USP#

The United States Pharmacopeia, the US book of standards for medicines, dietary supplements and their ingredients.

Loss on drying and moisture#

Loss on drying is the weight a sample loses when dried under set conditions, given as a percentage; it counts water and anything else that evaporates. Moisture, or water content, counts water only. A specification should say which one it means, and by which method.

Total ash#

What remains after a sample is burnt: the plant's own minerals plus any soil or sand. A high value points to soil or sand on the root.

Acid-insoluble ash#

The part of the ash that does not dissolve in dilute hydrochloric acid: mostly sand and silica, so it measures the soil left on the root. US food rules allow at most 2.5 % for licorice (21 CFR 184.1408).

Foreign matter#

Anything in a lot that is not the specified plant part, such as stems, leaves, other plants, stones or soil.

HPLC#

High-performance liquid chromatography: an instrument method that separates the compounds of a sample in a column, used to measure glycyrrhizic acid.

Total plate count (TPC)#

The number of aerobic bacteria that grow on a culture plate from one gram of sample. It is given in CFU/g: colony-forming units, the live microorganisms able to grow into a colony.

Ochratoxin A#

A toxin made by certain moulds on stored crops. The EU and the UK set maximum levels for liquorice root and extract: see import rules.

Aflatoxins#

Toxins made by some Aspergillus moulds. Specifications for plant materials often set limits for aflatoxin B1 and for the total of B1, B2, G1 and G2.

Heavy metals#

Lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic, tested because plants take them up from soil and water. US food rules for licorice allow heavy metals (as lead) up to 40 ppm and arsenic up to 3 ppm (21 CFR 184.1408).

Pesticide residues#

Traces of plant-protection products. In the EU, Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 sets their maximum levels in food: see import rules.

ISO/IEC 17025#

The international standard for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. A laboratory accredited to it shows that its results can be relied on.

GACP#

Good Agricultural and Collection Practice: guidance on growing, wild collection and first processing of herbal starting materials for medicines. The EMA's GACP guideline (Revision 1, 2025) is checked through buyers' audits; it is not a certificate.

GMP#

Good Manufacturing Practice: the rules for making medicines and their active substances. In the EU, Annex 7 of the GMP guide covers herbal medicinal products.

HACCP#

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point: a food-safety system that finds the hazards in a process and controls them at set points. The Codex Alimentarius sets out its principles.

ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000#

ISO 22000 is the international standard for food-safety management systems. FSSC 22000 is a certification scheme built on it, with added requirements, and recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative.

Trade and shipping

MOQ#

Minimum order quantity. Ours is 1 t under FCA, and a full load under the other Incoterms.

Incoterms#

The International Chamber of Commerce's rules on who does what in delivering goods: who pays the transport, when the risk passes, who clears customs. The current edition is Incoterms® 2020; our shipping page has a table of the eight rules we quote.

EXW (Ex Works)#

The seller makes the goods available at its premises; the buyer arranges everything from there, export clearance included.

FCA (Free Carrier)#

The seller hands the goods, cleared for export, to the carrier the buyer names at the named place; the risk passes there.

CPT (Carriage Paid To)#

The seller pays the transport to the named destination, but the risk passes when the goods are handed to the first carrier.

CIP (Carriage and Insurance Paid To)#

As CPT, and the seller also insures the goods for the buyer, at least on Institute Cargo Clauses (A).

DAP (Delivered at Place)#

The seller delivers to the named destination and carries the risk until the goods arrive there, on the arriving vehicle; the buyer clears them for import.

FOB (Free on Board)#

For sea transport. The seller delivers the goods on board the ship at the named port of loading; the risk passes once they are on board.

CFR (Cost and Freight)#

For sea transport. The seller pays the freight to the named port of destination; the risk passes when the goods are on board at the port of loading.

CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight)#

As CFR, and the seller also insures the goods for the buyer, at least on Institute Cargo Clauses (C).

T/T#

Telegraphic transfer: payment by bank transfer.

L/C#

Letter of credit: the buyer's bank undertakes to pay the seller once the seller presents the documents the credit requires.

D/P#

Documents against payment: the bank releases the shipping documents to the buyer only when the buyer pays.

HS code#

The Harmonized System number customs use to classify goods. The first six digits are the same in every country that uses the system; licorice root is 1211.90. See import rules and HS codes.

ТН ВЭД#

The customs nomenclature of the Eurasian Economic Union, built on the Harmonized System. Licorice roots are 1211 90 860 1.

Phytosanitary certificate#

An official certificate that a consignment of plants or plant products was inspected and meets the importing country's plant-health requirements. In Uzbekistan it is issued by the Agency for Plant Protection and Quarantine.

Certificate of origin#

A document stating the country where the goods were produced, for customs and tariff purposes. A preferential form, such as Form A of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), can lower the duty where a preference scheme applies; ours is issued on Form A.

Packing list#

A list of the packages in a shipment, with their contents, weights and marks.

Loads: containers and tent trucks#

A 20 ft shipping container takes 11 t of root; a 40 ft container, or a tent truck (a trailer with a canvas cover over a frame), takes 22 t.

Product forms

Slice#

Root cut at a shallow angle, which gives long oval pieces whose fibres hold together in boiling water. Graded by root diameter, from A, about 30 mm and over, to C1, under 10 mm: see the grade table and Slice A.

Tablet#

Root cut at 90°, which gives round discs; the cheaper cut for extraction. See Tablet A.

Granules#

Root cut by machine into small pieces, then sieved to remove the dust. See granules.

Crushed root#

Root broken by machine into irregular pieces. See crushed root.

Root fibre#

The short strands that form when tablet-cut root is crushed; also called chips. See root fibre.

Powder#

Root milled into powder. See powder.

Fingers#

Root cut by hand into pieces 5–8 cm long, always of mixed diameters. See fingers.

Sticks#

Root cut by hand into straight lengths of 45–55 cm. See selected sticks.

Extraction grade#

Thin root, under 7 mm across, cut roughly by machine: a low-cost raw material for making extract. See extraction grade.

Sources