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Chicory

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Common chicory
Botanical illustration of chicory
1885 illustration[1]
Closeup photograph of blue chicory flower
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Tribe: Cichorieae
Genus: Cichorium
Species:
C. intybus
Binomial name
Cichorium intybus
Synonyms[2][3]
Synonymy
  • Cichorium balearicum Porta
  • Cichorium byzantinum Clementi
  • Cichorium caeruleum Gilib.
  • Cichorium cicorea Dumort.
  • Cichorium commune Pall.
  • Cichorium cosnia Buch.-Ham.
  • Cichorium divaricatum Heldr. ex Nyman
  • Cichorium glabratum C.Presl
  • Cichorium glaucum Hoffmanns. & Link
  • Cichorium hirsutum Gren.
  • Cichorium illyricum borb.
  • Cichorium officinale Gueldenst. ex Ledeb.
  • Cichorium perenne Stokes
  • Cichorium rigidum Salisb.
  • Cichorium sylvestre Garsault
  • Cichorium sylvestre (Tourn.) Lam.

Common chicory (Cichorium intybus)[4] is a somewhat woody, perennial herbaceous plant of the dandelion family Asteraceae. It usually has bright blue flowers, rarely white or pink.[3]

It is often used as a food plant, and often as a coffee substitute. Many varieties are cultivated for salad leaves, chicons (blanched buds), or roots. The roots of variety sativum are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and food additive.

In the 21st century, inulin, an extract from chicory root, has been used in food manufacturing as a sweetener and source of dietary fibre.[5]

Chicory is grown as a forage crop for livestock.[6] It lives as a wild plant on roadsides in its native Europe, and is now common in North America, China, and Australia, where it has become widely introduced.[7][8][9]

"Chicory" is also the common name in the United States for curly endive (Cichorium endivia). These two closely related species are often confused.[10]

References

[change | change source]
  1. illustration from Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany
  2. "Cichorium intybus L. synonyms". Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Cichorium intybus L." The Plant List. 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  4. "Cichorium intybus". FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. Archived from the original on 2013-05-23. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
  5. Raninen K.; Lappi; et al. (2011). "Dietary fiber type reflects physiological functionality: comparison of grain fiber, inulin, and polydextrose". Nutrition Reviews. 69 (1): 9–21. doi:10.1111/j.1753-4887.2010.00358.x. PMID 21198631.
  6. Blair, Robert (2011-04-30). Nutrition and Feeding of Organic Cattle. ISBN 978-1-84593-758-4.
  7. "Cichorium intybus". Flora of North America. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  8. Flora of China, Cichorium intybus Linnaeus, 1753. 菊苣 ju ju Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  9. Atlas of Living Australia Archived March 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Endive, Chicory and Witloof". Aggie Horticulture. Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M System. Retrieved 2013-12-16.