Kondo Kenji, Shiba Mao, Nakamura Rie, Morota Takashi, Shoyama Yukihiro
Botanical Raw Materials Research Dept., Tsumura & Co., Ibaraki, Japan.
Biol Pharm Bull. 2007 Jul;30(7):1271-7. doi: 10.1248/bpb.30.1271.
Constituent properties of licorices derived from Glycyrrhiza uralensis, G. glabra, and G. inflata are revealed by comparing 117 of licorice identified using four genetic markers; internal tracscribed spacer (ITS) on nuclear ribosomal DNA, rbcL gene, matK gene, and trnH-trnK1 intergenic region on chloroplast DNA. Regarding six main constituents of licorice; glycyrrhizin, liquiritin, liquiritin apioside, isoliquiritin, isoliquiritin apioside, and liquiritigenin, the constituent property of G. glabra resembles to that of G. inflata. On the other hand, the constituent property of G. uralensis is not similar to that of G. glabra or G. inflata and is characterized by a wide content variation of the six constituents compared to those of G. glabra and/or G. inflata. The mean contents of liquiritin, isoliquiritin, or liquilitigenin in G. uralensis are significantly higher than those of G. glabra or G. inflata. Therefore, the licorice species should be selected depending on these constituent properties for the traditional Chinese medicines or the Japanese Kampo medicines. Additionally, glycycoumarin, glabridin, and licochalcone A were reconfirmed as the species-specific typical constituents of G. uralensis, G. glabra, and G. inflata respectively. Therefore, it is resulted that the determination of the three species-specific constituents may be useful for the species identification of licorice. However, since 6% of licorice examined and hybrids were exceptions to the rule, their genetic information is necessary for the accurate species identification of licorice.
通过比较利用四种遗传标记鉴定的117份甘草，揭示了来源于乌拉尔甘草、光果甘草和胀果甘草的甘草的成分特性；这四种遗传标记分别是核糖体DNA上的内部转录间隔区（ITS）、rbcL基因、matK基因以及叶绿体DNA上的trnH-trnK1基因间隔区。关于甘草的六种主要成分：甘草酸、甘草苷、甘草苷元芹糖基苷、异甘草苷、异甘草苷元芹糖基苷和甘草素，光果甘草的成分特性与胀果甘草相似。另一方面，乌拉尔甘草的成分特性与光果甘草或胀果甘草不同，其特点是与光果甘草和/或胀果甘草相比，这六种成分的含量变化范围较广。乌拉尔甘草中甘草苷、异甘草苷或甘草素的平均含量显著高于光果甘草或胀果甘草。因此，在制备中药或日本汉方药物时，应根据这些成分特性选择甘草品种。此外，再次确认了光甘草定、光甘草宁和光甘草酮分别是乌拉尔甘草、光果甘草和胀果甘草的种特异性典型成分。因此，结果表明这三种种特异性成分的测定可能有助于甘草的物种鉴定。然而，由于所检测的甘草中有6%以及杂种为例外情况，因此准确鉴定甘草的物种需要其遗传信息。
