[Properties of commercial licorice extracts used as a food additive]

Properties of eight commercial licorice extracts used as a food additive (sweetener, listed in the List of Existing Food Additives in the Japanese Food Sanitation Law) were surveyed. Residue on ignition ranged from 0.3 to 12.4%, and pH ranged from 4.1 to 6.8, amount of glycyrrhizin, which is the major component in licorice extract, ranged from 10.9 to 77.4%, sodium ranged from 0.1 to 1.2%, potassium ranged from 0.3 to 5.0%, and ammonium nitrogen ranged from 0.03 to 2.5%. These results indicated that various products were distributed on the market. Differences in the manufacturing process may contribute to the variations of product properties.