Pastis is an aniseed-flavoured spirit drink which also contains natural extracts of liquorice root (Glycyrrhiza spp.), which implies the presence of the colorants known as "chalcones" as well as glycyrrhizic acid, the minimum and maximum levels of which must be 0,05 and 0,5 grams per litre respectively.
Chalcones: a group of yellow to orange falvonoids derived from the parent compound chalcone .... About 25 naturally occurring chalcones are known; they are limited to a few plant families, including the composites. They differ among themselves in the degree of hydroxylation and, like other flavonoids, they occur primarily as glycosides in the plant. They differ from the biogenetically related flavones and anthocyans in the lack of ring closure to a pyrone ring. They are important intermediates in flavonoid biasynthesis.
