Extraction and Purification of Mono Ammonium glycyrrhizic Acid from licorice Roots (Glycyrrhiza glabra)

Licorice is an important medicinal herb used in different forms in many industries including pharmacy and food and tobacco industries. With a sweetness degree of 30-50, and sometimes 100 times higher than that of glucose as a permitted low calorie sweetener and flavor intensifier. Today, new processes have been developed to extract natural sugars such as glycyrrhizin and Mono Glycyrrhizic Acid, MGA, from licorice roots. Hot water extraction is a beneficial technique for refining bioactive molecules at the temperature range of 50 to 100. This study evaluated this method. The design of experiments and optimizations for achieving the ideal process parameters, aimed at maximizing MAG extraction, were performed using modern RSM. The results revealed that the best operational conditions are as follows: temperature=96, time=6 hours, water to feed ratio=70 ml/g, pH=12 and purity and mean efficiency=70% and 8.37%, respectively. Hot water extraction can be used as an efficient and cost-effective technique.