[The choleretic effects of licorice: identification and determination of the pharmacologically active components of Glycyrrhiza glabra].

Recent studies indicate that licorice extract, when administered per os or i.v., causes an evident choleretic effect in rats. Aim of this research is to identify and quantify those licorice constituents which are responsable for the observed choleresis. The quali-quantitative analysis of umbelliferon (7-idroxycoumarin), was at first performed by a fluorimetric method, subsequently by a more selective HPLC method. Moreover, this HPLC method allows the determination of glycyrrhizin, an important licorice constituent. Unlike the glycyrrhizin, which is present in a fairly large amount, umbelliferon resulted to be present at a very low concentration (at trace level), both in licorice and in bile. Research is in progress, aiming to determine the substances, beyond glycyrrhizin, which are responsable for the choleretic effect of licorice.