Detection of Total Flavonoid Content and Glycyrrhizic Acid Content in Licorice Hairy Roots

OBJECTIVE To detect total flavonoids content and glycyrrhizic acid content in hairy roots of Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch..MATHODS Total flavonoids content was detected by spectrophotometry and glycyrrhizic acid content was detected by HPLC.RESULTS Total flavonoids content in various hairy root lines were significantly different,the maximum content was 0.803%,and it was quite close to the content in the dry roots of mature licorice.The content of total flavonoids in most of hairy root lines were higher than in culture seedling.The content of total flavonoids increased gradually when culture time was prolonged and increased by 68.5% at the 9th week.The content of glycyrrhizic acid in various hairy root lines was significantly different.No production of glycyrrhizic acid was detected in some of hairy root lines.The maximum content of glycyrrhizic acid in other root lines was 0.69 mg·g-1 and was far lower than the dry roots of mature licorice.The content of glycyrrhizic acid in the hairy root line was not affected by the culture time.CONCLUSION The hairy roots of Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch..were unsuitable for resource of glycyrrhizic acid,while they were worth further studying as a new extraction resource of total flavonoids.