licorice

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Licorice sticks at a stall in Stockholm
Licorice shapes (stick, snail, bear)

Liquorice or liquorice (from Middle High German lakeritz from Latin liquiritia ) is the root extract (as a thickened juice) of real liquorice ( Glycyrrhiza glabra ). The term is also used for products based on it. In parts of Germany and Switzerland, as well as in South Tyrol, liquorice is also known as bear dung . Liquorice is mainly consumed in the sweetened version as a confectionery , much less often than the salty version. Licorice is also found in numerous other products such as beverages .

Licorice as a candy

Liquorice thaler made from hard liquorice (left) and soft liquorice (right)

Since the beginning of the 20th century, liquorice has been popular in numerous forms, especially as a sweet for children, such as snails, diamonds or thalers. The licorice coins of the company Haribo were from 1925 as Negro Taler , colloquially Negro Money marketed; because of the racist connotation of the term, they were renamed in 1993.

In the production of liquorice, the ingredients are extracted from the roots of real liquorice as raw liquorice and thickened. In addition, sugar syrup , flour and gelatin are added to make the usual liquorice shapes. Mixed with starch , agar , anise , fennel oil , pectin and partly Salmiak be prepared the usual variations licorice. The black color that liquorice sweets usually have is artificially enhanced with the coloring agent E 153 .

In the Netherlands, Scandinavia and Finland is licorice ( nl . Drop , Danish . Lakrids , fin . Lakritsi ) very common and is offered in a variety of flavors and shapes as candy. A main distinction is made between sweet (nl. Zoet , Danish sød ) and salty (nl. Zout , Danish salt ). Especially in Scandinavia, liquorice is mixed with salmiak, which has a very intense taste. In the southern German-speaking countries, in Switzerland and in Austria the sweet licorice is often in dialect Bärendreck called because of from Ulm Dating Nuremberg confectionery producer Karl Bear (company Sugar Bear in St. Leonhard , 1913 and 1974/84) to many licorice species partially Europe Held patents . In Austria, liquorice is comparatively less popular and more difficult to obtain, and there are hardly any really salty varieties in general stores.

Liquorice confectionery ( liquorice allsorts )

The so-called liquorice allsorts come from Great Britain , in which pieces of liquorice as liquorice confectionery are wrapped or filled with differently flavored, liquorice-free layers; liquorice allsorts are sold internationally under various brand names ; in Germany, for example, the liquorice confectionery is sold by Haribo as a confectionery and part of the Color-Rado mixture .

Licorice as a drink

In the Arab world, especially in Egypt and Syria, liquorice powder infusions, drunk chilled, are popular as a soft drink. The drinks are known by their Arabic name ( Arabic عرقسوس, DMG ʿaraqsūs ), where ʿaraqsūs is drunk before the start of fasting with the suuh meal . The drink is preferably sold by street vendors who pour it to passers-by from elaborately crafted canisters .

In Finland the so-called Salmiakki Koskenkorva or Salmiakki Kossu is widespread. It is a mixed drink based on Koskenkorva Viina ( Kossu ), a Finnish liquor similar to vodka. The deep black spirit has 32 percent alcohol by volume and tastes intensely of liquorice. It is also known as bird soup , especially in northern German-speaking countries . In Holstein licorice is in grain or Köm dissolved and as Swarte Sööch (lower German for Schwarze Sau drunk).

In Iceland there is vodka mixed drinks with liquorice. The licorice gums Opal and Tópas , which are popular in the country, are both available as pitch-black alcoholic drinks and have a very sharp and intense taste. In Italy and Germany, liquorice liqueur is particularly common.

Diffusion and consumption

Since the liquorice had to be brought from the Middle East, liquorice is especially known and valued in coastal regions. Its consumption is widespread, for example. B. in the coastal regions of France, Italy, Scandinavia and England. In Germany, liquorice was previously grown in different regions, especially in the south, but cultivation has declined sharply and is now only operated by individual private individuals and in Bamberg by the Bamberg liquorice company.

The Dutch have the world's highest consumption of licorice at two kilograms per person per year. In Germany consumption is significantly higher in the north than in the south; around 200 grams per person per year are consumed here. Consumption in Austria is negligible.

Composition of liquorice products

Glycyrrhizin

Licorice can affect the body's electrolyte balance, particularly the loss of potassium, and lead to high blood pressure, headaches, and edema . This effect is based on the fact that one of the main ingredients of licorice ( glycyrrhizin ) influences the mineralocorticoid metabolism. The mineralocorticoid effect of cortisol in the main cells of the kidney collecting duct and thus the expression of ENaC, ROMK, the Na + / K + -ATPase and the protein kinase SGK1 is increased. Normally, cortisol in the main cells is inactivated by 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 2. Licorice inhibits this enzyme. The same mechanism also inhibits the breakdown of 4- (methylnitrosamino) -1- (3-pyridyl) -1-butanone (NNK). As an important cigarette carcinogen, NNK contributes to the risk of lung cancer. The Tobacco Ordinance allows liquorice to be added as a flavoring substance; the content of various cigarette brands can be looked up on the BMEL website . If consumed during pregnancy, licorice can also have a lasting effect on the cognitive and physical development of children, warns a long-term study from Finland from 2017.

Although no statutory maximum limits for glycyrrhizin have yet been set, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment still warns against excessive liquorice consumption. Licorice products that contain more than 200 milligrams of glycyrrhizin per 100 grams of licorice must be labeled as Starklakritz in Germany .

Salmiak admixture

Another characteristic component of liquorice products is ammonium chloride , also called salmiac (see salmiac pastilles ). In Germany, food without a warning on the packaging must not contain more than 2 percent salmiac. Liquorice products with a higher salmiac content must have a warning on the packaging. This reads:

  1. Adult liquorice - no children's liquorice if the content is over 2 to 4.49%
  2. Extra strong, adult liquorice - no children's liquorice if the content is above 4.49 to 7.99%

Others

literature

  • Max Wichtl: Tea drugs and phytopharmaceuticals. 4th edition. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-8047-1854-X
  • Tim Richardson: Sweets. The History of Temptation. Bantam Books, New York, NY 2002, 2003 ISBN 978-0-553-81446-0 .
  • Klaus-D. Screech: Licorice - The Black Passion. Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2010, ISBN 978-3-7995-0291-7
  • Klaus-D. Screech: Licorice - Treatise on a journey into the world of black candy. Oktober-Verlag, Münster (Westphalia) 2012, ISBN 978-3-941895-31-7
  • Klaus-D. Screech: The licorice brooch. Tredition, Hamburg 2019, ISBN 978-3-7482-6276-3 .
  • Gustav Hegi : Illustrated flora of Central Europe , Volume IV, 3rd part. Page 1454-1457. Carl Hanser, Munich 1924; Unchanged reprint: Weißdorn, Jena 1964, DNB 457052384 .

Web links

Commons : Licorice Products  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files
Wiktionary: licorice  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Trevor Jones: Harrap's standard German and English dictionary. Part 1, Volume LR, p. N 26 sv Negergeld. - Manfred Paeffgen: The image of black Africa in public opinion in the Federal Republic of Germany (1949–1972). Munich 1976, ISBN 3-8039-0130-8 , p. 98. - Bettina Grosse de Cosnac: A bear goes around the world. Haribo - from the candy maker to the king of gummy bears. A German family saga. Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-203-77521-2 , p. 151. - Black art. In: Der Spiegel, February 10, 1965, online
  2. ↑ Haidi Costard: As the Nuremberg to Bärendreck came . In: St. Leonhard and Schweinau - More than a slaughterhouse and gas works , Geschichte für Alle e. V. , Nürnberger Bezirkhefte # 5, Nürnberg 2002, pp. 48–49.
  3. ↑ Amany Abdel-Moneim: Keeping cool in Ramadan. (No longer available online.) Al-Ahram Weekly, September 3, 2003, archived from the original on May 28, 2013 ; accessed on August 7, 2014 .
  4. ↑ The history of the Bamberg liquorice cultivation . Excerpt from the commemorative publication for the 125th anniversary of the Upper Gardeners Association Bamberg: Because wos arechtä Gärtnä is, ... , Gerhard Handschuh, Bamberg 1988, OCLC 631823596
  5. ↑ a b Michael Witt: Naschkatzen, Süßholzraspler , in Die Rheinpfalz on Sunday, August 12, 2007, p. 19
  6. ↑ Black Licorice: Trick or Treat? US Food & Drug Administration, Consumer Updates, October 25, 2011
  7. ^ Edmund Maser (2004) Significance of reductases in the detoxification of the tobacco-specific carcinogen NNK In: Trends in Pharmacological Sciences . Volume 25: Pages 235-237. doi: 10.1016 / j.tips.2004.03.001 (engl.)
  8. ↑ Database with additives in tobacco products on the BMEL website, accessed on July 19, 2014
  9. ↑ aerzteblatt.de: Study: Licorice in Pregnancy Harms Child Development , accessed on February 9, 2017
  10. ↑ BVL - General decrees according to § 54 LFGB - licorice products with an ammonium chloride content of more than 2% to 7.99% and with or without the addition of the color Carbo medicinalis vegetabilis (E 153). Re No. 1994-006-00. Retrieved January 18, 2020 .