* Please Note: This information is based partly on Traditional Medicine which uses natural materials to support health. This information has not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor.
Description
Medicinal Usage
Chicory has stomachic, tonic, cholagogic, diuretic, and slightly sedative qualities. An infusion of the root stimulates bile secretion and tones an upset stomach. If taken in excess, chicory may cause fullness of blood in the head and reduce the visual power of the retina.
The greens are high in vitamin A, calcium, and potassium. They also contain appreciable amounts of phosphorus, choline, iron, vitamin C, and B vitamins. The roots contain over 50 percent inulin, choline, tannins, and a host of other compounds.
The root is a well-known coffee adulterant. Many prefer to consider chicory an enhancer of coffee flavor, enricher of color, and acidity balancer. Adulterants are added to disguise. Coffees containing chicory should flaunt the improvement.
Young unmanipulated shoots and roots may also be eaten as vegetables. The bitter taste of fresh green leaves can be reduced by cooking in several waters. Before boiling, slice the roots in thin pieces and soak them in water overnight to remove bitter principles.
General Herb Information
One person's weed is another person's herb. More often maligned than enjoyed in America, chicory is a culinary herb deserving greater appreciation. Chicory is thought to be native to Europe and Asia and is extensively naturalized in North America. Two species, C. intybus and C. endiva, are grown in gardens. C. intybus, common chicory, is a perennial growing from two to six feet high. It has a deep spiraling tap root, and its lower leaves resemble dandelion leaves, though they are usually larger. The upper leaves are alternate, clasping the stem, becoming progressively smaller toward the top of the plant. They may be with or without teeth. The pleasing sky-blue, rarely pink, ligulate flowers hug the stems in clusters of two or three flower heads, or one head may sit alone on a short branch. They are about an inch and a half in diameter. C. endiva is an annual or biennial growing to three feet high, and its leaves are ruffled and more robust. My seed catalogs list nineteen chicory cultivars including red-leaf varieties, heading chicories, large root chicories, and salad varieties.
Both endive and common chicory are grown from seed sown in the late spring or mid-summer for autumn salad greens. Seedlings can be thinned to six-to-ten-inch spacings. A rich deep-dug soil and full sun provide a good home for chicory. C. inlybus can be sown in the spring followed by a successive planting of C. endiva in midsummer. Azure blue flowers, edible foliage and root, and medicinal qualities make chicory an alluring plant for the herb garden.
Witloof (a Flemish word for "white lear"), or blanched leaves, forced from winter-stored roots or roots banked with earth in spring or fall, is chicory's best known leaf product. For winter-grown witloof, the tops are cut just above the ground, then stored in sand, light soil, or sawdust in a warm cellat Before storage the lower end of the root is trimmed, making eight inch long sections, and placed upright in the growing medium. By covering the crowns with about eight inches of soil, the roots form a "head" three to six inches long of etiolated (blanched) leaves, tender and mild in flavor. Crowns can also be forced by placing the roots in a warm, moist, dark spot or covering them in the field with flower pots.
Gathering chicory roots is a task of excavation. The deep tap roots, often two feet long and two inches in diameter, are difficult to entirely unearth. A shovel pries broken roots of twelve-inch lengths from the Ozark's rock-ridden soil. A double-dug bed makes root harvest easy. Wash and slice the roots into one-fourth inch diameter pieces an inch or two long. Roast pieces in an oven at 250°-300° F. for one hour or until crisp. Be careful not to scorch the roots. Grind in a blender and brew a chicory root tea or add one portion of roasted root to two portions of coffee.
Chicory - Succory (Cichorium intybus).
Propagation: By seed, easy germination; by underground runners.
Nature of Plant: Beautiful clear blue flowers which close by noon; larger leaves are near the ground and make a good filler for plants with bare stems in midsummer; leaves resemble those of dandelion and plant sometimes called blue dandelion.
Spacing of Mature Plants: 12 inches.
Cultural Requirements: Dry, light, sandy soil in full sun; if the plant is used for decorative gardens, runners must be severely restrained by slicing down all around plant with a spade and removing the cut-off pieces of root.
Uses
Root: (Industrial) Roasted and ground-up roots are used to adulterate coffee, gives it a bitter taste; (Medicinal) in jaundice.
Leaf: (Culinary) Blanched for salads, sometimes sold under the name of witloof.
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Directions
Take 1 capsule, 3 times daily, with meals.
Cautions
Not recommended if you are pregnant or lactating.
Additional Information
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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor. The essence of the current American rule on Traditional Uses is, as stated by FTC, "Claims based on historical or traditional use should be substantiated by confirming scientific evidence, or should be presented in such a way that consumers understand that the sole basis for the claim is a history of use of the product for a particular purpose."
