Objective: To observe the effects of liquiritigenin on growth, apoptosis, and autophagy of human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells. Methods: After exposure to different concentration of liquiritigenin (0.05, 0.10, 0.20, 0.40 mmol/L) for 24, 48 and 72 h respectively, the cell viability of MCF-7 cells was determined by MTT assay. The cell apoptosis was determined by Hoechst 33342 staining and cell autophagy was observed by acridine orange (AO) staining after MCF-7 cells were exposed to liquiritigenin of above concentrations for 48 h. Results: With the increase of concentration of liquiritigenin and prolongation of exposure time, the cell viability of MCF-7 cells was gradually decreased, and some of the results reached statistical difference comparing with control (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The apoptotic rate of MCF-7 cells was increasingly elevated with the increase of concentration of liquiritigenin, and became statistically different versus control when liquiritigenin reached 0.20 mmol/L (all P<0.01). Autophagy occurred in MCF-7 cells exposed to each tested concentration of liquiritigenin, but autophagic activity presented a trend of initial increase and subsequent decrease with the increase of concentration of liquiritigenin. Conclusion: Liquiritigenin can inhibit the growth of human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells, and this action is associated with apoptosis acceleration and autophagy induction.