Crops Chicory (Cichorium intybus)

Chicory is familiar in several guises, not least as a colourful wild plant in many parts of Northern Europe, particularly on calcareous soils. It is cultivated as a vegetable and salad crop, and the ground root also provides an extender or substitute for coffee. Chicory is also sometimes included in seeds mixtures for long-term grazing leys. It is of interest to industry because the root contains a high proportion of the storage carbohydrate inulin, a polymerised form of fructose. Inulin itself may be used as a low-calorie sweetening agent, but the fructose syrups derived from it, in addition to use as sweeteners, may be employed as feedstocks for fermentation processes and chemical transformations with a wide range of possible applications. Currently some 5000 ha are cultivated annually in Belgium and the Netherlands, and this area is expected to increase.

This entry forms part of the publication Crops for Industry and Energy in Europe

References:

Bremness, L (1988) The Complete Book of Herbs. London: Dorling Kindersley & National Trust.

Brenchley, W E (1920) Weeds of Farm Land. London: Longmans, Green & Co.

Chisholm, C J (Ed) (1994) Towards a UK Research Strategy For Alternative Crops. Silsoe: Silsoe Research Institute.

Fuchs, A (Ed) (1993) Inulin and Inulin-containing Crops. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science B V

Langer, R H M & Hill, G D (1991) Agricultural Plants (2nd Edn) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Industrial Crops and Products. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science B V

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Relevant EC funded projects:
FAIR-1896