Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.)

Chicory plant	Forcing chicory

Distribution, Yield, Use:

• Distribution:
  Grown especially in Belgium, France, Holland, England, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Italy and Yugoslavia. Limited climate and soil requirements.
• Yield:
  150-250 dt/ha leaf mass
  300-600 dt/ha roots
  8-12 heads/m3 under forced cultivation
• Use:
  - salad vegetable (raw or steamed)
  - industrial raw material (inulin from roots)
  The leaves contain 95% water, 2-3% carbohydrate, 1.5% protein, 0.2% fat.
  The sap-producing tap roots contain 11-17% inulin.

Region of origin: Region of cultivation:

• Cultivation and Breeding:
  The ancestral form of chicory is the wild chicory (var. silvestre). This perennial wild plant grows widespread in the temperate zones of Europe and Near Asia. The ancient Greeks and Romans knew the wild and cultivated forms as medicinal and vegetable plants. In cultivation a distinction is made between salad chicory, from which the leaves or blanched heads are taken, and root chicory. Root chicory achieved great importance at the beginning of the 18th century for the production of coffee substitute from the roasted fleshy tap-roots.
• Breeding aims:
  The breeding aims are similar to those of lettuce. Chicory varieties must be suitable for cultivation with or without soil cover or forcing with water. Growth and forcing times, taste, shape and stability of the head are important. For root chicory, varieties with high inulin content for fructose production are desired.

Text by Wolfgang Schuchert
Adapted to HTML by R.Saedler