WHILE travelling through India more than a decade ago, Islander Erling McCracken met an old yoga guru who prescribed for a happy and fulfilling life a daily discipline of yoga, meditation and a stick of liquorice.

Those wise words inspired Erling to build up a business with one goal - to make quality liquorice available to everyone.

"Liquorice is now the fashioning herb and sweet for the millennium," said Erling, 38, from Shanklin. "When you eat liquorice, you are consuming something that really is good for you.

"Not many, if any, confectionery products can claim that.

"Good quality liquorice is sweet and sensual. Its rich characteristic taste is a natural alternative to chocolate and much better for you."

Erling's mother is Norwegian and for a while he lived in Norway. While he was out there he noticed that the Scandinavians consumed a lot of liquorice. In fact, more liquorice than any other confectionery.

He said: "The liquorice they consume there is very different to the liquorice we are used to here.

"Their liquorice is almost savoury in taste. It is very salty and comes in different strengths - single salt, double salt and triple salt."

Liquorice is obtained from the natural root of the plant Glycyrrhiza glabra. The perennial herb is native to southern Europe, Asia and the Mediterranean.

The herb is extensively cultivated in Russia, Spain, Iran and India. Liquorice is one the most popular and widely consumed herbs in the world.

The roots and stolons of the plant are lifted, and then cut into short lengths and peeled.

They are then dried for about nine to ten months until only ten per cent of the moisture is left. The root is tied into bundles at this stage and then washed, boiled and pulped to gain the liquorice essence. If the root is ground to a powder, as some growers do, it is then boiled to extract the liquorice essence.

At this stage the liquorice has turned black or very dark brown. The water is then evaporated off to leave the pure liquorice extract wither in the form of a black powder or a hard, shiny black tar-like block, known as hard juice. The liquorice is now ready to be manufactured into the traditional twists that we are familiar with today.

Erling said: "The lasting almost oily rich taste of good quality liquorice is because it contains a high percentage of Glycyrrhizin.

"This unique active substance has been shown to possess anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties; it has also been shown to be effective in the fight against the HIV virus.

"Glycyrrhetinic Acid is an anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory agent and one of the reasons liquorice is so potentially good for you.

"The pharmaceutical industry uses a lot of liquorice because it is one of the few products that can not be synthetically reproduced.

"Many people enjoy liquorice's sweet taste and beneficial effects, which include counteracting toxic effects, toning the spleen and increasing energy.

"It is especially beneficial to smokers because of the anti-inflammatory action.

"It is also famous for its fast, soothing relief from indigestion and cases of peptic ulcers. It lubricates the stomach and lungs and reduces muscle tension and irritability.

"The Egyptians and the Greeks recognised the liquorice herb's benefits in treating coughs and lung disease.

"Liquorice is the second most prescribed herb in China followed by ginseng. Liquorice was even grown in England in the 1700s. The monks of Pontefract began to grow a hybrid variety and turned it into medicinal little cakes.

"The monks met a confectioner who started to produce the Pontefract cakes as sweets, which are still sold today.

"Liquorice was one of the best sold sweets in England until recently, so I am trying to build its popularity again. There is a generation now in the UK who don't eat it anymore.

"When I started Saint Valentine's Liquorice Company nine years ago, I started to get liquorice in from around the world, such as Italy and Norway, as I wanted to make it available here.

"It has proved incredibly popular and I go to around 70 shows a year, and our liquorice is also available through mail order.

"Although I work with liquorice all day, every day, I still really enjoy eating it. Knowing that you are eating a sweet that is good for you too, is a real bonus."

Saint Valentine's Liquorice Company tel: 01983 812629. Website: www.valentines-liquorice.co.uk