Biological Effects Of Licochalcones.

Licorice root (Radix Glycyrrhizae) is a common perennial plants native to Mediterranean countries, central to southern Russia, Asia, Turkey, Iraq and Iran used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries and licorice has been described as 'the grandfather of herbs' .The genus name Glycyrrhiza (family Leguminoseae) is derived from the ancient Greek words glycos (meaning sweet) and rhiza (meaning root). It consists of about 30 species, but most common ones are Glycyrrhiza glabra L., Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch and Glycyrrhiza Inflata. It is known that licorice root contains various chalcones which are an important class of natural products, precursors of flavonoids. Chemically, chalcones consist of open-chain flavonoids, wherein two aromatic rings are joined by a three-carbon α, β-unsaturated ketone, which represent the fundamental nucleus of the structure. They are classified according to chemical structures in Licochalcone A, B, C, D, E, F and G. This review aims to highlight all the in vitro and in vivo studies that have been conducted on the licochalcones, extracted from Glycyrrhiza species. The most important effects are: anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, antimicrobial, antiviral, antiallergic, antidiabetic, hepatotoxic and osteogenic. Natural bioactive compounds are mostly value to implement the introduction of biologically active molecules from the bench (research) to the bedside (clinical practice). However, in a future perspective it is necessary to perform additional studies to confirm these biological effects.