Mulethi (Licorice - Ayurvedic) for Skin Health

Research suggests that licorice, particularly its active compounds glabridin, liquiritin, glabrene, and isoliquiritigenin, demonstrates consistent skin-brightening and depigmenting properties primarily through inhibition of tyrosinase, a key enzyme in melanin synthesis. Studies indicate that glabridin also works through additional mechanisms including suppression of the MITF signaling pathway and autophagy-mediated melanosome degradation in keratinocytes, with findings supported across in vitro cell studies, animal models using guinea pig and B16F10 cell lines, and several topical formulation studies including a liposome delivery system. The body of evidence is largely composed of laboratory-based and mechanistic studies, with multiple reviews consistently identifying licorice extract as one of the better-supported natural ingredients for addressing hyperpigmentation and postinflammatory skin discoloration in cosmeceutical applications. A notable limitation of this research base is the relative scarcity of large, well-controlled human clinical trials, meaning that while the mechanistic evidence is robust, the direct translation of these findings to reliable clinical outcomes in human skin remains an area where further rigorous study would strengthen the overall picture.