It is known in Mandarin as “gancao”. In Chinese medicine, it is commonly combinedwith other herbs in a single prescription to tone the lungs and spleen and torelieve coughs and shortness of breath (Wang et al. 2013). It can mitigate the effectsof various foods, herbs, drugs, and chemical poisonings (Fiore et al. 2005). Indecoction for lung relief, it is paired with Folium Mori “Sang ye” and other herbs,to moisturise the lungs (McNamara and Song 1995). It is clinically proven to acceleratemucus secretion and sooth lung inflammation (Aly et al. 2005). From aresearch perspective, a substance extracted from liquorice root, licochalcone A, hasbeen shown to have antitumor activity in lung cancer (Shibata et al. 1991; Asl andHosseinzadeh 2008).
