Page 112 - Book of Abstracts

5 International Scientific Online Conference DOI: https://doi.org/10.15414/2021.9788055224015

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INFLUENCE OF SOIL CHARACTERISTICS ON THE GLYCYRRHIZIC ACID
ACCUMULATION DYNAMICS IN LIQUORICE ROOTS
Ekaterina Rodionova, Maria Grushko, Nuria Kanieva
Astrakhan State Technical University, Astrakhan, Russian Federation; E-mail.: mgrushko@mail.ru

Liquorice Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) is one of the oldest medicinal plants that have not lost
their relevance to this day.
Liquorice root contains substances belonging to various classes of chemical compounds,
the most pharmacologically valuable of them are triterpene and flavonoid substances. The
greatest interest among triterpene compounds of Liquorice root is given to glycyrrhizic acid. It
is known that natural conditions have a direct impact on the dynamics of the accumulation of
biologically active substances in medicinal plants.
This work aims to carry out a comparative analysis of the biochemical composition of
Liquorice from different districts of the Astrakhan region. One more aim is to establish the
influence of soil characteristics on the dynamics of glycyrrhizic acid accumulation in plant roots.
The object of the study is the roots of Glycyrrhiza glabra and soil samples from different
districts of the Astrakhan region which were taken at the end of the growing season in
September and October of 2019. Determination of the content of glycyrrhizic acid in the
selected samples was carried out using a liquid chromatograph an Agilent 1220 Infinity LC
System. Besides the content of heavy metals (lead, cadmium, copper, manganese) in samples of
these Liquorice roots was determined by the atomic absorption method for toxic elements
determination. Some soil sample (samples were taken in the previously mentioned districts of
the Astrakhan region) characteristics such as the content of organic matter, acidity, the
concentration of chloride ions, bicarbonate ions, sulfate ions, mass fractions of the same metals
(lead, cadmium, copper, manganese) were determined. The samples of plant roots were tested
on the same criteria.
The results of determining the glycyrrhizic acid content in the Liquorice roots samples
taken from various regions of the Astrakhan region, namely, Kharabalinsky (Kharabali),
Kamyzyak (Samosdelka), Krasnoyarsk (Lanchug) and Astrakhan (Leninsky district) showed
that the glycyrrhizic acid content varies from 1.68 to 4.41 %. The highest rate of glycyrrhizic
acid is noted for plants sampled in the Kharabalinsky region (Kharabali town) – 4.41 %.
During the biochemical tests, a positive correlation was found between the content of
glycyrrhizic acid and such soil characteristics as the content of organic matter (r = 0.6), acidity
(r = 0.3), mass fraction of bicarbonate ions (r = 0.5).
Manganese, cadmium, lead and copper were found in the soils of all these regions
inadmissible concentrations. It was found that the soils of the Kharabalinsky region have the
lowest levels of lead concentration (0.9 mg/kg), while the indicators of manganese (96.0
mg/kg), copper (6.7 mg/kg) and cadmium (0.28 mg/kg) are the highest in comparison with
other tested areas. But, the concentration of these metals in the roots of the plant is one of the
lowest – 2.816 mg/kg; 1.461 mg/kg; 0.078 mg/kg, respectively.
It has been established that the best growing conditions have developed in the
Kharabalinsky district (Kharabali town), where the lowest indicators of chloride (0.105 %) and
sulfate salinization (0.02 %); the optimal level of acidity (pH 6.62), the content of organic
substances (4.4 ±0.67 %) and metals.
Keywords: Glycyrrhiza glabra, glycyrrhizic acid, Astrakhan region.

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5 International Scientific Conference Agrobiodiversity for Improving the Nutrition, Health, Quality of Life and |111
Spiritual Human Development
November 3 2021
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