Molecular and cultural characterization of a new licorice cultivar

Licorice has been used as a source of medicine and a food material in East-Asia. Recently, demand for licorice increased in market due to a growing interest in health. Thus we developed a new licorice variety, 'Won-gam' in Korean through hybridization between G. uralensis and G. glabra. We studied on its cultural and molecular characterization. In the results of SSR analysis derived from EST sequences of Glycyrrhiza spp., Won-gam was differentiated from other Glycyrrhiza species including its parent species, G. uralensis and G. glabra, and was identified as a hybrid. Two parental Glycyrrhiza species and Won-gam was independently differentiated in sequence analysis of ITS region, and the paternal species, G. glabra was differentiated in sequence analysis of rbcL and trnL-F region in chloroplast DNA. Won-gam showed a higher ingredient content of glycyrrhizin (3.5%) and yield (3.59 ton/ha) than G. uralensis.

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