Chicory
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Chicory ( Cichorium intybus var. Foliosum ) |
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| Cichorium intybus var. Foliosum | ||||||||||||
| Hegi |
Chicory belong to the variety Cichorium intybus var. Foliosum of the species Common Wegwarte ( Cichorium intybus ). They belong to the family of the daisy family (Asteraceae). Chicory forms a turnip (15 cm long, 3 to 5 cm thick) and a rosette of leaves on the ground.
history
The exact genesis of chicory is unclear. In 1846, the chief horticulturist at the Botanical Garden in Brussels , Bresier, pulled what may have been the first chicory. After he had let the roots of the Cichorium intybus grow in the open, he covered them light-tight to sprout. They only developed a minimum of the undesirable bitter substances and remained pale as a side effect.
According to other reports, this type of forcing can be traced back to accidental observations: On the one hand, it is said that Belgian farmers stored their chicory roots in the greenhouse in 1870 as a result of an unusually high harvest and that they discovered the strong shoots during the winter.
On the other hand, a reference to the founding of the Kingdom of Belgium in 1830 is mentioned: in order not to lose the chicory roots grown for use as a substitute coffee in the revolutionary times, farmers in Brabant hid these roots by covering them with soil. During the excavation, the crisp white leaves were discovered (“white foliage” - Dutch wit loof , from which witlof , the Dutch name).
In order to increase the yield of chicory, CMS varieties (F1 hybrids) are mostly grown today .
Old method of forcing chicory
The roots are rented and covered in sand in the autumn like carrots in greenhouses . From the armpits of the previously shortened leaves and from the terminal bud then sprout 15 to 20 centimeters long and up to 5 centimeters thick, pointed firm buds during the winter. These are pale and delicate due to the covering. At most, this method can still be considered for domestic use today.
Modern method of chicory production
There are four stages of production:
- Production of the chicory root :
- Storage of the roots in cold rooms at −1 to +3 ° C and a relative humidity of 95 to 97 percent for between one week and eight months; this means that chicory can be produced all year round.
- Drifting the roots: the roots are placed upright in plastic boxes and these are placed on pallets in absolutely light-tight rooms. In complete darkness and with a regular supply of nutrient solution and water in a closed system, the chicory that is not covered with soil sprouts in 20 to 25 days at a constant temperature. The darkness prevents the formation of chlorophyll and the undesirable bitter substance lactucopicrin in the leaves, which thereby develop the desired pale yellow color.
- Breaking, sorting and processing in line with market requirements: each chicory is removed individually from the boxes and separated from its roots. Although this is referred to in practice as “breaking” the chicory, cutting tools, some of which are machine-operated, are often used for this purpose. After cleaning the possibly unsightly outer leaves, the chicory is packed ready for sale.
Roots are placed in boxes
Close up of boxes with tightly packed roots
The roots drift in stacked pallets in a light-tight room.
Roots with ready-grown chicory
Machine breaking of the chicory
use
When cut, the buds provide a raw vegetable salad that tastes more or less bitter thanks to Intybin . They can also be steamed, boiled in salted water, or lightly seared as a vegetable . According to Belgian sources, chicory is mostly steamed in France , the Netherlands and Belgium , but mostly consumed raw in the United States and Germany . European estimates assume an annual consumption of around 8 kilograms per person in Belgium, around 4 kilograms in France and the Netherlands and around 300 grams in the European average.
The root is also used as a coffee-like drink to make chicory coffee.
The chicory root can also be used for the production of plastic.
ingredients
(Information based on 100 g raw chicory)
| Calorific value | 68 kJ (16 kcal ) |
| water | 94.4 g |
| usable carbohydrates | 2.3 g |
| Fiber | 1.3 g |
| protein | 1.3 g |
| fat | 0.2 g |
| cholesterol | no |
| vitamin C | 10 mg |
| Vitamin A | 0.6 mg |
| niacin | 0.2 mg |
| potassium | 192 mg |
| Calcium | 26 mg |
| phosphorus | 26 mg |
| sodium | 4 mg |
French names for chicory and endive
In French, the chicory is colloquially referred to as "endive" (f.) And the endive with "chicorée" (f.).
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ Georg Vogel u. a .: Handbook of special vegetable growing. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-8001-5285-1 , pp. 84-85.
- ↑ Roger Müller: Swiss vegetables from genetic laboratories: the consumer has no choice. In: srf.ch . September 2, 2014, accessed March 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgart, Germany: Research at the University of Hohenheim: Tights made from chicory roots - Stuttgarter Zeitung. In: stuttgarter-zeitung.de. Retrieved on February 19, 2016 (German).
- ^ Pons, online dictionary German / French. Retrieved April 6, 2016 .
literature
- Wolfgang Franke: crop science. Usable crops of the temperate latitudes, subtropics and tropics. 6th edition. Thieme, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-13-530406-X .
- Werner Rauh: Morphology of useful plants. 2nd Edition. Quelle and Meyer, Heidelberg 1950.
