Medicinal Plant Research 2025, Vol.15, No.6, 283-290 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/mpr 284 approach: major bioactive compounds; mechanisms of anti-inflammatory activity; mechanisms of antiviral activity; multi-omics and modern technological applications; clinical studies and safety evaluation; research challenges; and concluding perspectives. 2 Major Bioactive Components of Glycyrrhiza 2.1 Flavonoids and triterpenoids and their structural characteristics The major flavonoids present in Glycyrrhiza include liquiritin, liquiritigenin, isoliquiritigenin, glabridin, and licochalcone A. They usually contain a C6-C3-C6 skeleton and are usually glycosylated or prenylated; thus, their solubility and bioactivity depend on the nature of the substituent. Flavonoids fromGlycyrrhiza have shown potent anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiviral activities, with the structural diversity underlying a wide range of biological activities (Frattaruolo et al., 2019; Hasan et al., 2021) (Figure 1). The signature compounds of triterpenoid saponins, mainly fromGlycyrrhiza roots, are glycyrrhizic acid and its aglycone, 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid, both produced by the hydrolysis of glycyrrhizic acid in vivo. These display remarkable anti-inflammatory, antiviral, hepatoprotective, and immunomodulatory activities. These triterpenoids are responsible for the sweetness of licorice (Sharifi‐Rad et al., 2021; Yao et al., 2022; Shinu et al., 2023). Figure 1 Chemical constituents of licorice and the active constituents of its main extracts and isolated compounds (Adopted from Frattaruolo et al., 2019) 2.3 Polysaccharides and other secondary metabolites Immunomodulatory and antioxidant effects of polysaccharides, including sugars such as arabinose, glucose, and galactose present in Glycyrrhiza, have been identified. Other secondary metabolites involve coumarins and phenolic acids, further adding to the pharmacological profile of this plant (Hasan et al., 2021).
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