How is chicory grown commercially?

Agrotechnics of cultivation and harvesting of root chicory

1.Placing chicory in a crop rotation

The optimal climatic zone for growing chicory is one that provides the length of the growing season of 120 days or more at +10 degrees Celsius and above; not less than 200 - 250 m of precipitation in 120 days from the moment of germination to the beginning of harvesting and the sum of effective temperatures within the range of 2100 - 2400 degrees Celsius.

Chicory should be placed in a tilled crop rotation field on well-cultivated soils with a deep arable horizon, at least 25 cm, with an average and high supply of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

Do not sow chicory on swampy, acidic soils, very heavy clayey, as well as sandy, poorly retaining moisture and poor in nutrients. Unsuitable soils, dusty, littered with sow thistle and milkweed, sprayed and floating.

Chicory is a relatively good precursor for sugar beets. The root secretions of chicory act irritatingly on the beet nematode, it leaves its cysts, but being unable to penetrate the chicory tissue, it dies of hunger. Thus, chicory largely cleans the area from the beet nematode. Chicory has a similar effect on the onion nematode. The best predecessors of chicory are: clean steam, steam filled with vetch-oat mash, fertilized winter crops, corn, green peas, legumes. On black soil, chicory is sown after grain crops and 350-500 C of root crops per hectare are obtained.

To avoid sclerotinia and wireworm damage, chicory should not be placed after potatoes, carrots, beets and perennial grasses.

After chicory, it is best to sow forage grasses, since the germinated remnants of its root crops, mowed before flowering, disappear forever.

2. Tillage.

For the normal growth of chicory and the formation of a yield of standard root crops, high-quality soil cultivation is necessary.

In order to maximize the accumulation of moisture, fill the soil with nutrients necessary for chicory and control weeds, tillage should be started in the autumn of the previous year. The timing and methods of soil cultivation depend on many reasons: soil and climatic conditions, density and weediness of the soil, predecessors, etc.

3. Fertilizer

With a yield of 200 C / ha of root crops and 164 C / ha of green leaf mass, chicory takes out 85 kg of nitrogen from the soil, 40 kg of phosphorus, 124 kg of potassium and 47 kg of calcium. With a yield of 400 C / ha of root crops and 200 C / ha of green mass of leaves, nitrogen is removed - 170 kg, phosphorus - 52 kg, potassium - 186 kg, calcium - 86 kg. Therefore, it is important that nutrients are available throughout the growing season.

Studies of agrochemistry have shown that phosphorus fertilizer is used by chicory in the initial phase of its growth, potassium fertilizer at the 3rd month of life, and nitrogen throughout the growing season. Therefore, organic and potash fertilizers should be applied in autumn for fall plowing or in spring for plowing, and phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizers only in spring, before pre-sowing cultivation. Special care must be taken with the amount and timing of nitrogen fertilization.Too large doses of nitrogen fertilizers or applied too late, lead to a deterioration in the quality of chicory roots and contribute to the formation of cavities (hollowness) in them. Under the influence of nitrogen fertilizers, the roots can become overdeveloped, their tissues become juicy. Drying of such roots is expensive and additional costs.

Chicory, like other root crops, is most productive on soils with a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction of the environment. Liming acidic, podzolic soils increases the yield of chicory by 35-42%. When liming the soil, the best yield of chicory is obtained at pH6 - pH6.5

3. Sowing and seeds.

The yield of standard chicory fruit is highly dependent on the quality of the seed, the timing of sowing and the depth of planting.

Chicory is sown on a flat surface with a row spacing of 40-45 cm (the main method); on ridges and flat surfaces (62 + 8 cm) and on ridges in 3 lines with row spacing of 35-40 cm.The best nutritional area for one chicory plant lies in the range from 500 to 700 cm2, in other words, the planting density should be 165 - 200 thousand plants per 1 hectare.

The depth of planting seeds depends on the quality of the soil and its preparation for sowing, the timing of sowing, the moisture of the upper soil layer and the weather conditions of spring. The best depth of planting chicory seeds is: on light soils by 1-2 cm on difficult soils - about 1 cm. At a depth seed placement 3 cm, germination rate is reduced to 50%.

Chicory can sprout at a temperature of 2-3 ° C, and young plants develop, albeit slowly at + 4 - + 5 °. Fortified shoots of chicory easily tolerate morning frosts up to - 4 - 5o.

Chicory seeds in moist soil at a temperature of + 9 ° C germinate 5-8 days after sowing. Under unfavorable conditions for the development of embryos, the germination period can last up to 2-3 weeks or even longer.

In the first month after emergence, chicory grows slowly and accumulates no more than 2-4% of the root mass and about 5-7% of the leaf mass during this period. By the end of 2 months, the root mass reaches 20-29% of the final yield, and the leaf apparatus is 50%. For the 3rd month, the weight of the root crop reaches 50-60% of the final harvest. Leaves reach 75-80% of the vegetative mass. The growth of the root crop of chicory usually ends in the Non-Chernozem zone at the end of September, in Ukraine at the end of November.

The water regime of chicory is similar to that of sugar beet. To obtain 1 kg of dry matter, about 300 liters of water are required. The greatest increase is given by the July and August precipitations.

The roots and leaves of root chicory are a valuable nutritious and even medicinal food for farm animals. 100 kg of chicory root crops contain 25.7 fodder units (100 kg of fodder beets - 14.5). Chicory testes are excellent melliferous plants. With a planting density of 25 thousand plants, up to 100 kg of high-quality honey can be obtained from one hectare, while buckwheat gives 70 kg of honey. The roots of chicory contain a polymer of fructose - inulin, which is a prebiotic that improves human metabolism.

Chicory is a highly profitable crop. With a harvest of 300 C per hectare, you can get products worth 250,000 rubles. and more.

The flood of information about the beneficial properties of chicory coffee made me start growing this plant in my country house.

Attempt # 1

I bought a bag of chicory root seeds, grew seedlings in a greenhouse, as I usually do with perennial flowers, and planted young sprouts along the bed with raspberries, since there was no other free space, and about 5 young sprigs of raspberries standing alone in the center it was enough.

I don't remember exactly whether the chicory bloomed that year or the next, but it bloomed very gorgeous, only somehow strange: then all the flowers suddenly disappeared, then the next day they bloomed again in full force. And everything is very simple. Chicory, a clock plant that is sensitive to light levels.In the morning, under the bright sun, the sky-blue baskets of chicory are fully opened, but somewhere around 5 pm they seem to disappear without a trace. Flowers do not open on cloudy days either.

In the fall, these "perennials", like everyone else, I cut, but in the spring they were not in place, and new roots of chicory appeared on the entire garden bed and since they interfered with the development of raspberry bushes, I moved them to an empty place on the south side of the site instead of Jerusalem artichoke, considering chicory more important because of its beautiful flowering.

How wrong I was!

Attempt # 2

Chicory bloomed right up to the fall and I didn't have time to do anything in terms of harvesting roots for coffee. Well, not before that!

And in the spring everything repeated again: I did not find a bush, and so many new green succulent plants appeared around that it was no longer difficult to guess: chicory is still that weed, which I immediately removed from the flower garden, but I missed it.

To understand what needs to be done in order for my third attempt to be successful, I turned to experts from the Internet, and now everything fell into place.

So, chicory root, plantbiennial(like foxglove), not perennial.
In the first year, a root rosette of leaves is formed and a root crop with a thickened top is formed. Some of these roots can be dug up in the fall or spring for both coffee and chicory recipes, and some can be left in the second year when the stems, flowers and seeds appear.

Chicory blooms in summer, and the seeds ripen from late summer to mid-autumn and it is better to have time to cut the stems if there is no need to get seedlings everywhere from fallen seeds. If seeds are needed, then hang a broom of cut stems indoors and spread a cloth to collect them.

Chicory seeds are sown in spring in loose soil, deepening by 3 cm and then compacted. No special care required.

Compared to wild-growing common chicory, root chicory is more powerful and tall (up to 1.5 m) with a large fleshy rhizome, which is used to make a healthy drink (coffee substitute).

Chicory based products

1. Chicory powder-This is an unroasted ground chicory root of a light color, it is distinguished by a higher content of nutrients and vitamins. The downside is that it does not have that very pleasant coffee aroma that is obtained after roasting. It is used to obtain decoctions and infusions.

2. Soluble chicory -it is a powder made from roasted chicory root, then ground in a coffee grinder, serves as a coffee substitute for the preparation of the drink. It must be stored in a vacuum package, as lumps form due to moisture and it loses its useful properties. When purchasing a ready-made powder in a package, pay attention to the absence of lumps.

3. Liquid extract of chicory -It is also made from chicory root, it has the highest content of nutrients, it is easier to store and more difficult to falsify.

Harvesting chicory herb

The chicory herb (aerial part) is harvested during the flowering period, for this, the tops of the stems are cut off at a height of 30 cm, crushed and laid out in a thin layer on a cloth or cardboard to dry in a shaded, ventilated place.
Dried raw materials are stored in a sealed glass container in a dark and dry place.

Harvesting chicory roots

In the fall, after the root rosette of leaves wilted, when all the beneficial substances pass into the roots, the plant is carefully dug up, cleaned of the earth, the root and root neck are washed with cold water and dried, then the green part is cut off and bitter milky juice begins to stand out from the root neck. The roots are dried for 1-2 days until the release of milky juice stops, then chopped into small pieces and dried in the oven at a temperature of 40-50 degrees to ensure fast enough drying.
Properly dried raw materials have a light color and pleasant smell, they break easily.It is stored in the same way as grass, providing conditions to exclude moisture absorption from the air.

Decoctions and infusions from dried chicory root improve digestion, calm the nervous system, regulate the rhythm of heart contractions, help cope with bedwetting, remove toxins and excess fluid from the body, preventing edema.

To get a powder for brewing coffee, you need to brown the dried roots in the oven to the appropriate state and grind in a coffee grinder.

Useful properties of chicory

1. Normalizes metabolism.

2. Cleanses the kidneys.

3. Improves blood composition.

4. Cleans blood vessels.

5. It is used as an antipyretic agent for colds.

6. It has a choleretic, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, soothing and wound healing effect due to its unique chemical composition.

7. It has a beneficial effect on lowering blood glucose levels, normalizes the function of the pancreas, and also enhances cardiac activity.

8. It has a general strengthening effect on human immune mechanisms.

9. Promotes healing of wounds and eczema.

In folk medicine, chicory is used for diseases of the liver and kidneys, for bile and kidney stones, and cirrhosis of the liver.

Young green chicory leaves are used for the preparation of therapeutic and prophylactic salads, which are especially useful for patients with diabetes mellitus for lowering sugar levels.

Chicory herb can be used for atherosclerosis in the form of an infusion.

Chicory recipes

1. Decoction for external use

Pour 20 g of dry grass with 2 cups of boiling water, leave for 10 minutes. Infusion to rinse the eyes for conjunctivitis and for poultices for pain in the joints.

2. Tincture of chicory for rubdown

10 g of roots and herbs pour 40 ml of alcohol, leave for a week and use to treat wounds and skin diseases.

3. Chicory juice for scurvy and anemia

Squeeze the juice from fresh chicory leaves, mix with milk and take 15 ml 3 times a day.

4. Collection with chicory for cholelithiasis

To prepare the collection, take 50 g of dandelion roots, chicory, mint leaves, tripoli, and a turnip, mix everything well. 2 tablespoons of the collection pour 500 ml of boiling water, leave for 5-6 hours, drink in 2 days.

5. Anti-cellulite bath with chicory

2 tablespoons of chopped chicory herb pour 1 cup of boiling water into a thermos for 1 hour, then strain and pour into a bath, which should be taken 15 minutes every other day until the amount reaches 21.

6. Decoction for hair growth

Pour 30 g of grass and chicory roots with 4 cups of boiling water, boil for 30 minutes, then leave for 6 hours, strain and rub into the hair roots, then stand for 10 minutes under a hat, then rinse under running water.

7. Fresh juice for anemia

The tops of young chicory shoots 15-25 cm long are cut off at the budding stage, washed, scalded with boiling water, squeezed out the juice, boiled for 1-2 minutes and taken 1 teaspoon for half a glass of milk 3-4 times a day for 1-1.5 months.

8. Strong decoction for washing

Boil 4 tablespoons of the root in a glass of boiling water and strain. Use for lotions and washes for skin rashes, acne. boils, purulent wounds and eczema, as well as for baths with diathesis in children.

9. Healing drink for eyesight

A mixture of chicory, carrot, parsley and celery juices, taken daily in a glass, can restore vision in the early stages of myopia and save a person from the need to wear glasses. The course of treatment is a month, then a break of 1.5 months and again a month of treatment.

10. Face mask

To quickly restore the healthy appearance of the skin affected by acne, a mask made from fresh chicory crushed in a blender, honey and a few drops of propolis alcohol solution is used.

11. Drink for a bath as a prophylaxis of colds

Mix the chopped chicory root and motherwort leaves 1: 1.
Pour 3 tablespoons of the mixture with 2 cups of boiling water, insist and drink in the bath like tea.

Contraindications

1. For people suffering from varicose veins, hemorrhoids and gastritis, chicory can be dangerous.

2. Because of its powerful effect on stimulating the functions of the nervous system, chicory is contraindicated in patients with neuroses.

3. Contraindications for use are pregnancy, gastritis, rare pulse.

4. Chicory is a medicinal herb and in large quantities it is dangerous even for a healthy person.

Food uses of chicory

The leaves of the root rosette formed in the first year are used as vegetable greens, but in order to remove the bitterness, they are soaked in salted water or subjected to heat treatment (boiling, stewing, frying)

1. Chicory salad

Simmer the chopped young leaves of the herb with a little water, salt and fat for 20 minutes, at the end add the chopped garlic and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Serve as a stand-alone dish or as an ingredient in a salad.

2. Chicory root salad

Boil chicory root and jacketed potatoes in equal parts in salted water, peel, cut into slices and season with vegetable oil or mayonnaise.

3. Soup dressing

Soak young chicory leaves for 2 hours in salted water, mince, add salt.

4. Sauce for fish dishes

Pass 100 g of young soaked leaves and stalks of chicory through a meat grinder, fry in fat until soft and combine with 300 g of mashed stewed apples.

5. Orange-apple-cyclic tonic

Mix 1 tablespoon of liquid chicory extract, 2 tablespoons of orange syrup, 0.5 liters of apple juice and 1 liter of water.

6. Cupcake with chicory

Add 3 tablespoons of dry chicory extract to the baking dough, mix well and bake.

I hope that the knowledge gained will be enough so as not to ruin my 3rd attempt prepare chicory.

Common chicory (

Cichorium intybus

) Is a perennial rhizome plant belonging to the Asteraceae family, or Compositae. It is ubiquitous and grows like a weed along roadsides and in urban wastelands, meadows and pastures. However, there are several good reasons not only to pay attention to it, but also to plant it in your

pharmacy garden

. 

Chicory is worth planting in the country

The first reason is beauty

Numerous blue flowers, abundantly decorating tall (up to 1.5 m and more) stems in June-July, will become a gentle and expressive accent of summer flower beds.

Chicory is beautiful If you want to grow chicory not only for benefit, but also for beauty, choose a place for it in the background of a decorative bed or mixborder, or place it in the center if a two-sided view of the flower garden is supposed. But keep in mind: during seed propagation, this plant does not bloom in the first year, it only has a rosette of basal leaves.

When choosing chicory companions, consider how you intend to use it. If you plan to dig up the roots, you should not combine this plant with perennials, it is better to plant annual flowers or spicy, medicinal herbs nearby - for example, flax, cornflowers, chamomile, snakehead, coriander, basil, dill.

Reason two - taste

Chicory rhizomes have long been used as a coffee substitute. It is believed that the history of its use began in the second half of the 18th century, when the Thuringian gardener Timme "invented" this surrogate. Chicory creates a good illusion of a popular drink (even the aroma is similar), but it does not contain caffeine, which makes it possible to drink such "coffee" even for those who suffer from cardiovascular diseases. Of course, you can buy ground chicory or instant paste. But why not grow your own raw materials?

Chicory replaces coffee To make a coffee drink, dry root pieces are roasted (usually in an oven) and then ground like coffee beans and brewed. When roasted, the natural polysaccharide inulin and fructose contained in the roots are partially caramelized - later this will affect the color of the drink, giving it a resemblance to natural coffee; The "coffee" aroma is provided by the aldehyde, oxymethylfurfural, formed when sugars are heated. This substance, by the way, has an ambiguous "reputation" - in various sources you can find information about its high toxicity and harm to the body. However, it should be borne in mind that oxymethylfurfural is found in many foods, so one should hardly take such "horror stories" to heart.

Note also that the degree of roasting of the roots affects the taste of the drink: if the raw material has acquired a dark brown color during processing, the "coffee" from it will taste noticeably bitter.

Reason three - benefit

Common chicory is a medicinal plant that is used to improve digestion; has anti-inflammatory, sedative, choleretic, diuretic, tonic effect; helps the regulation of metabolism.

Chicory is a part of many medicinal preparations The whole plant serves as a medicinal raw material: the grass is harvested during flowering, cutting off strong stems with scissors, and the roots are dug up in autumn or early spring (when the basal leaves begin to grow).

Chicory roots are used for the preparation of decoctions and infusions used in the treatment of diseases of the liver and gallbladder, gastrointestinal tract, as well as obesity, atherosclerosis, disorders of mineral metabolism, joint diseases, mild diabetes, increased nervous excitability, general weakening of the body.

Chicory herb is used in the form of decoctions and infusions for constipation and digestive disorders, edema of cardiac origin; externally - in the form of lotions or baths - in the treatment of eczema, purulent wounds, persistent furunculosis.

How to grow chicory

For sowing, you can use both purchased seeds and collected independently from wild plants. However, it should be borne in mind that on sale there are often seeds of salad varieties of chicory, superior to the wild one in taste, but inferior in healing properties.

The root of chicory is pivotal, thickened, fleshy. For normal development, he needs a light fertile soil with a neutral reaction; the plant feels best in a sunny area. Chicory is sown in early spring in the grooves to a depth of 2.5 cm, leaving from 45 to 60 cm between the grooves. The seeds do not require additional processing and usually sprout after 7, maximum 10 days. The formation of large roots is facilitated by timely (in the phase of the third-fourth leaf) thinning; no more than 15 plants are left per 1 meter of a row.

Chicory. The root and flower of Chicory is unpretentious, it does not need special care, but if you want to get a high yield of medicinal raw materials, do not neglect weeding, periodic loosening of the soil, watering in dry weather. When growing chicory as a perennial crop, keep in mind that mice readily eat it, so you should protect the plantings from pests.

In the first year, the plant does not bloom, forming only a rosette of leaves, but the roots can be harvested already in the fall. Raw materials are washed with cold water, cut and dried; It is best to use a non-hot oven for this, but you can also use a regular oven or vegetable dryer.

In nature, chicory is often found on dry meadows, roadsides, along fields. Of course, you don't have to bother: chicory is by no means a curiosity, it is found everywhere. But often the places of its natural growth can hardly be called environmentally friendly, therefore, it is difficult to harvest wild-growing chicory as a medicinal raw material.And this is probably another reason to grow it in the garden - here you will certainly be sure that you will benefit.

Read also:

• Chicory - mamulechkin flower

PROSPECTS FOR APPLICATION OF NON-CONVENTIONAL VEGETABLE RAW MATERIALS IN THE CONFECTIONERY INDUSTRY

Flour confectionery products are mainly pastries with a high content of sugar, fat and eggs and a low moisture content. They have a pleasant taste and attractive appearance. Their assortment is very diverse.

However, there is a certain group of people for whom these delicacies are prohibited. Therefore, one of the main tasks facing food industry enterprises at the present time is the purposeful creation of a civilized market for medicinal, dietary, prophylactic products that meet the needs of specific groups of the population:

• people with various diseases (diabetes, etc.),
• overweight people
• people experiencing various physical activities.

Some of these problems can be solved by implementing the following areas:

• creation of technologies and new types of prophylactic products with increased nutritional and biological value;
• development of technologies and new types of sugar-free products, including diabetic ones.

The workers of the bakery and confectionery industry in Russia are also faced with the task of improving the structure of nutrition as a result of an increase in the share of mass consumption products of high nutritional value, including biological value. The expediency of its solution is determined by the need to regulate the chemical composition of products in accordance with the modern requirements of nutritional science, as well as the efficiency of their production due to the saving of expensive raw materials.

In recent years, there has been a tendency to enrich food products with various biologically active substances of plant origin and reduce the sugar content of products also due to the use of plant raw materials.

Chicory is ideal for these purposes. In Russia, cultivated chicory has been grown as a food plant for a long time and on a large scale. For a long time, the production and processing of chicory in Russia was concentrated mainly in the Yaroslavl and Ivanovo regions, where about 16 thousand tons of chicory root crops were harvested annually. In recent years, industrial planting of chicory has also been carried out in Belgorod, Voronezh, Tambov and other regions of the Russian Federation.

This increased interest in chicory is primarily due to the fact that it is the second raw material after natural coffee for the production of coffee products. Chicory has established itself as a tasty and healthy product with healing properties. More than a hundred instant and insoluble coffee drinks are produced on the basis of chicory in many countries. It is used for the production of natural coffee (10-12%), coffee drinks (up to 70%). Chicory increases their nutritional value, imparts aroma, bitter pleasant taste, and coffee color (when roasting, inulin and fructose are partially caramelized, which ensures the color density of the “coffee” drink obtained from the powder). In Russia alone, the assortment of coffee products produced with the use of chicory has reached almost 50 items in recent years. The value of a plant as widespread in nature as chicory is due to its unique chemical composition. Chicory roots contain from 40% (in the wild) to 61% (in cultivated varieties) inulin, 4% protein; up to 15% sugar, 0.1-0.2% intibin glucoside, which gives the roots a characteristic bitter taste, 4.5-9.5% fructose, 10-20% levulose, 4.7-6.5% pentosans, and pectin, fats, resins, tannins and organic acids - ascorbic (15.8%;), chicory, malic, citric and tartaric.

According to the Paris Laboratory, chicory contains 33 mineral elements and vitamins: A, E, B1, B2, B12, PP.Studies on the content of mineral elements in pure chicory have shown that in terms of the composition of macro- and microelements, this product is characterized as follows (mg / 100g dry matter): potassium - 1667.4; calcium -91.5; magnesium -6.3; iron -3.0; copper -0.2; zinc -0.65; manganese -0.42.

In chicory, you can also find 17 amino acids: aspartic in the amount of 1.01-1.18 g / 100 g of raw material depending on the variety of chicory, threonine 0.31-0.50 g, serine-0.35-0.59 g, glutamic acid - 1.07-1.70, proline - 0.28-0.83g, glycine - 0.28-0.51g, alanine - 0.38-0.89g, valine - 0.21- 0.41g, isoleucine - 0.20-0.38g, leucine - 0.26-1.59g, tyrosine - 0.14-0.70g, phenylalanine - 0.11-0.52g, histidine - 0.00-0.77g, lysine - 0.00-0.97 g, arginine - 0.51-0.81 g, as well as traces of cystine and methionine. However, during storage, the content of most free amino acids, especially essential ones (threonine, valine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine and lysine), decreases markedly. Other components of chicory root crops - minerals, malic, citric, tartaric and oxalic acids, glucosides - intibin, lactucin, lactopicrin, taraxatol, proteins and lipids during the storage of raw materials practically remain unchanged.

It is known that carbohydrates play a very important technological role in the process of melanoidin formation (intense coloring of the crust of bakery and confectionery products), and chicory is the most natural source of the valuable polysaccharide inulin. Inulin is a high molecular weight fructosan, soluble in water, precipitated from aqueous solutions when alcohol is added. When hydrolyzing inulin with acids, it forms fructofuranose and a small amount of glucopyranose, and the content of free monosaccharides, fructose and glucose, increases approximately fourfold.

In plants, inulin is often accompanied by other fructosans (inulides), which have a lower molecular weight (10-12 fructose residues) and, therefore, better solubility in water. In terms of qualitative analysis, inulin and inulides are not stained with iodine. Inulin, found in chicory roots, is the most valuable sweetener in our country. It is also found in large quantities in the tubers of earthen pear and dahlia, in the roots of dandelion, kok-sagiz, in artichokes, in the roots, leaves and stems of the rubber plant guayula. In these plants, inulin replaces starch. In terms of chemical structure, inulin is a fructose polymer of 35-60 monosaccharide residues linked by glycosidic bonds between the 1st and 2nd carbon atoms.

Inulin, used as a food additive to food, enriches them with dietary fiber, which stimulates the motor function of the intestine, prevents the absorption of cholesterol, and promotes the release of toxic elements from the body. Plus, inulin is low in calories. As a substitute for sugar, inulin is used in foods for patients with diabetes mellitus.

Plants (as well as molds and yeasts) contain a special enzyme - inulase, which hydrolyzes inulin to form fructose. Fructose of chicory makes it easier for the liver to remove toxins from the body, has a positive effect on the central nervous system, and eliminates insomnia. Having entered the bloodstream, fructose is more likely to enter into metabolic processes than glucose. Utilization of fructose does not require insulin, so it is, like inulin, useful for diabetic patients. Fructose has a great sweetness compared to other sugars.

The tannins contained in chicory have an astringent antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effect. Medicinal plants containing tannins are used to treat diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, burns, as well as in case of poisoning with alkaloids and severe methods, since they have the ability to form insoluble precipitates with these compounds.

There are optimal modes of the chicory roasting process, because at this stage there are significant changes in the physical and chemical properties of the product. From a chemical point of view, this is accompanied by the hydrolysis of inulin to fructose and glucose (their content increases fourfold); the content of free amino acids changes. The glycoside intibin, interacting with the compounds formed during frying, gives a bitter-aromatic complex - chicoriol;

just as it should be at high temperatures, melanoidins are formed - substances of a pleasant golden brown color.

Thus, roasted chicory contains on average 17.46% sugar, 25.58% nitrogen-free extractive substances, 7.35% nitrogenous substances, 2.48% fatty oil, and a total of 71.77% water-soluble substances (on dry matter ).

Since ancient times, such a valuable plant as chicory has been used in folk medicine to treat diseases of the stomach and intestines, especially in gastritis, enteritis, colitis; kidneys, and also as a tonic, blood-purifying agent, improving metabolism and enhancing cardiac activity. All this determines the use of chicory as a raw material with valuable therapeutic and prophylactic properties. The most convenient products for correcting nutrition are bakery and flour confectionery products. Flour confectionery products occupy a significant place in terms of production volumes of industries. Among all the variety of baked semi-finished products used for making cakes and pastries, biscuits are most widely used. An analysis of the recipes for biscuit semi-finished products showed that 1 part of protein accounts for 4 to 8 parts of carbohydrates, so their chemical composition can be brought in line with the requirements of a balanced diet by reducing the sugar content and increasing the amount of dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals.

Therefore, for research, the control was selected biscuit semi-finished product prepared according to recipe No. 8 in the traditional way with the addition of 7% cocoa powder. The following products of processing of chicory root crops were introduced as fortifiers:

• chicory pasty fried;
• chicory dry fried;
• chicory dry, not fried.

The granulated sugar was replaced with chicory. The purpose of this study was to obtain products with increased nutritional and biological value, high advantages, with a therapeutic and prophylactic effect.

The use of unconventional raw materials, that is, by-products of chicory, can reduce the consumption of sugar and sand, and if chicory is introduced at the stage of beating the egg mass (or melange), then a decrease in the duration of beating is observed, which also leads to a decrease in the cost of finished products and an increase in the economic effect ... In addition, the experimental samples were characterized by better porosity (smaller and thinner pores) and an elastic crumb, which easily restored its original shape upon compression, in comparison with the control sample.

I also consider it necessary to note the positive, in my opinion, influence of the introduction of chicory into the dough on the orgonoleptic indicators of finished products - the acquisition of a pleasant chocolate-coffee taste and aroma. Research in this area is ongoing. But no one has any doubts about the expediency of widespread use of chicory and its processed products in the production of food products for mass consumption in order to expand the range of products with targeted therapeutic and prophylactic properties that improve human health.

Today, not all the space of the summer cottage is occupied by the usual vegetable and berry crops and gardens. All large areas are allocated for exotic cultures, flower beds, sports grounds, recreation areas. The latter are often formed in the form of green mowed lawns or Moorish lawns, blooming from spring to autumn.Among the field flowers of elegant lawns are always adorned with pale blue flowers of common chicory, or the Tatar color known in Russia, bitterness, scherbak, roadside grass, king-root. In the south of Russia and the CIS, chicory is better known as Petrov batog - the herb, with the stalks of which the Apostle Peter drove the sheep into the flock. It is believed that he threw the used chicory stalks along the sheep paths, where they germinated with grass with an unusual stem and peculiar flowers at the ends of the bare twigs-stems.

Common chicory (Cichorium intybus)

The origin and distribution of chicory

The place of origin of chicory is considered to be the Mediterranean. In the plant system Chicory (Cichorium) belongs to the Asteraceae or Compositae family. It is considered a plant of temperate latitudes and tropics. Currently, in the Russian Federation, it is distributed everywhere from the southern outskirts, the Caucasus to Western Siberia and Altai. Favorite habitats in natural conditions are forest edges, roadside, abandoned lands and other places with thickets of weeds.

Why grow chicory in the country?

Chicory has been grown in Russia for over 150 years. Currently, 2 types of chicory are grown in industrial quantities - lettuce (Endive) and ordinary, - for use in vegetable culture and collection of medicinal raw materials.

For lovers of unusual vegetable crops (and dishes from them), this exotic vegetable can be recommended for growing. From the leaves chicory salad (vegetable) prepare delicious vitamin salads, especially valuable for diabetics. Young shoots are baked in a dough, used for making snacks, side dishes for main courses, stewed, fried.

Root common chicory used to prepare a coffee drink, which is often more delicious than other types of coffee. Cycotic coffee does not contain caffeine and can be used by expectant mothers and children from 5 years old.

Endive, or Chicory salad (Cichorium endivia)

Useful substances of common chicory

Common chicory root contains B and C vitamins, organic resins, tannins, trace elements and other useful compounds. But its main wealth is inulin, the content of which in chicory roots exceeds 60%, and in dried roots - 70%. It is the beneficial bacteria of the intestine (bifidumbacteria) that use inulin for nutrition, which helps to normalize the digestive system and metabolism in general. Chicory preparations improve blood composition, remove toxins and toxins. Chicory is recommended for diabetics, and its herbal teas (instead of tea or with a mixture with tea) remove heartburn, relieve fatigue, increase tone (like coffee, but do not contain caffeine, which negatively affects health).

Chicory is rich in mineral salts, essential oils, organic acids. Chicory root contains up to 10% fructose, up to 20% levulose, choline, essential oils, pentosans. The biomass contains lactucin, triterpenes, vitamins and other substances necessary for the body, and the flowers contain coumarin glycoside chicorein and others.

Common chicory (Cichorium intybus)

Medicinal properties of chicory

In official and folk medicine, all parts of common chicory and milky juice are used as medicinal raw materials.

Among the people, decoctions from the aerial part of wild chicory are drunk during inflammatory processes, as antimicrobial and astringent for debilitating diarrhea, decoctions improve appetite. Decoctions of chicory seeds are an effective antipyretic agent, they have diaphoretic and analgesic properties. Flower infusions have a positive effect on the central nervous system and heart function.

In official medicine, chicory is the main component of many medicines. They are used for diseases associated with the work of the gallbladder, gastrointestinal tract, lesions of the mucous membranes of the mouth, conjunctivitis, pain and inflammation of the joints, bites of poisonous insects. In some diseases, chicory is contraindicated. Before using it, you should consult your doctor.

A brief botanical description of chicory

Common chicory is a herbaceous plant. In culture, it is two years old, in the wild, it is a perennial. Taproot, fusiform, up to 1.5 m in length, many-headed. At the root collar thickened.

Aboveground part of chicory is grayish-green, consists of 2 erect ribbed stems up to 50-70 cm in height. The stems are practically naked. Oblong leaves are collected in a basal rosette. Pubescent below. Stem leaves of 2 types. Along the stem are located the next sharp-toothed sessile along the edge, and the upper ones are lanceolate, whole along the edge.

Endive, or Chicory salad (Cichorium endivia)

Reed flowers are collected in loose baskets, bright or light blue, rarely pink, white. Chicory blooms in July and blooms until late autumn, especially in the southern regions.

Seeds are formed in the second year. Chicory is rich in seeds. One plant forms them from 3 to 20 thousand. The upper part and the fleshy root are harvested separately.

How to grow chicory in the country

To decorate Mauritanian lawns, they often buy a mixture of seeds, where chicory is indicated in the composition. 4 species grow in the wild in the Russian Federation. They are usually included in the seed.

For country cultivation, vegetable chicory (salad) and common chicory are used. The second is usually grown as a medicinal raw material.

Common chicory is unpretentious to soil conditions (grows on any soil, like most weeds), but picky about lighting. In addition, chicory salad reacts to soil moisture and, with insufficient watering, may not form a root crop.

Planted chicory seedlings

In autumn or spring, the soil is shallowly dug up (10-15 cm). For digging, nitrophoska, kemira or other complex fertilizer is applied, 40-50 g / sq. m. Under the chicory, the soil is leveled, cut through 10-15 cm 3 cm grooves. Sowing seeds is carried out in moist soil. With dense sowing, seedlings are thinned to 5 cm.

Plants are drought-resistant. Common chicory is watered while drying the top layer on 2 phalanges of the fingers. Under the chicory salad, the soil is kept constantly moist. Top dressing is not required.

Harvesting and storing chicory

Chicory seeds are harvested in late September - early October. Dried in a warm room. Roots are carefully pulled out of the soil, shaken off the ground, washed under running water, cut into small 1-2 cm slices and laid out to dry in any dryer heated to no more than + 50 ° C. The finished raw materials are stored in a linen container in a dry, ventilated room in the form of 1-2 cm slices or immediately ground in a coffee grinder. The ground chicory is stored in a hermetically sealed glass or ceramic container. Shelf life - up to 3 years.

During the flowering of chicory, the aboveground mass is harvested for the preparation of decoctions and infusions. Cut off the top 25-30 cm (leaves, stems, inflorescences). Lay out in the shade in a thin layer and dry in a draft. During drying, the mass is constantly agitated.

Chicory roots

How to make coffee with chicory

Fresh or dried chicory roots are fried in the oven at + 180 ° C until light brown. You do not need to overcook. From this, the drink only loses. Toasted wedges lose their bitterness and acquire a piquant roasted coffee bean aroma and dark brown color.

To prepare one portion (200-250 g) of a coffee drink, pour 2 teaspoons of ground chicory into hot water, bring to a boil and cook for 3-5 minutes over low heat. Pour into a cup through a fine strainer. You can add milk, sugar, honey to the drink.

Some lovers of cyclic coffee simply pour boiling water over a portion of ready-made ground roots, insist 3-5 minutes. The taste of a coffee drink does not differ from a natural one, but it is healthier, since it does not contain caffeine.

Dried and crushed chicory roots

To enhance the color scheme of natural coffee to a classic dark brown, almost black color, you can add 1-2 teaspoons of chicory to it.Moreover, the amount of natural coffee should be reduced by about half. If at the same time bitterness persists, then it is useful.

Adding milk to a cyclic drink improves the digestibility of milk by 4 times. You can make a cyclic drink using milk instead of water. Put 2 teaspoons of ground chicory in a portion of hot milk (200-250 g) and cook over very low heat for 2-3 minutes. The drink acquires an original nutty flavor.

We have already considered with you benefits of chicory drink compared to coffee, compared their benefits and harms... Definitely, drinking chicory is much healthier than coffee. And it's very cool that you can not only buy it in stores, but also grow it yourself, especially since there is nothing complicated about growing chicory on its own plot, no.

A hundred years ago, chicory was a very popular drink in Europe because coffee was in short supply. Nowadays coffee is drunk everywhere, but chicory is becoming more and more popular, because more and more people are beginning to take care of their health.

In addition to the roots, which are used to prepare an invigorating, aromatic and tasty drink, chicory grown on its own site can give you spicy greens for adding to salads.

Growing root chicory

Just do not confuse with salad chicory, this is not quite what you need. In the wild, chicory is very common in Russia and Ukraine.

Chicory, which grows in the wild, can also be harvested, and a drink can be prepared from its roots, but it is less troublesome to grow chicory on your site, especially if you have a cultivated root chicory a large root that will last for a long time.

In many countries, chicory root is grown purposefully and on an industrial scale. The most famous variety of root chicory in Russia is Yaroslavsky. Chicory has been cultivated in this area for over two centuries.

Chicory is a biennial plant. In the first year, a rosette of leaves forms, and a root is formed, thickened in the upper part, weighing 100-400 grams, and 10-45 cm long. Leaves can be eaten, they have a rather peculiar taste with bitterness. In the second year, chicory produces seeds.

Chicory is propagated by seeds and root shoots.

For chicory, you need a bright, sunny area. Any soil that is not too acidic will do, but of course, it is better to be well fertilized and structured. It is not recommended to plant chicory after root crops.

The seeds are sown in early spring. as soon as the soil is frozen. It is undesirable to sow in autumn before winter - there will be a lot of flowering plants.

Young seedlings withstand short-term frosts quite well. Seeds are planted to a depth of 1-1.5 cm, in rows, between which a distance of 40 cm is made. Seeds sprout at a temperature of 10 degrees in 8-10 days. When 2-3 true leaves appear on the plants, they are thinned out, leaving 10-15 cm between the plants in a row.

Chicory is a drought-resistant plant, but if you want to get a bigger crop, then of course you need to water it.

Harvested to constant frost. Chicory roots are well stored in the basement, at a minimum above zero temperature.

Plants left for seed in the second year can be left in the ground for the winter. They perfectly tolerate frosts down to -30 degrees. Chicory blooms in the second year in July. So that he does not get dusty with wild chicory, it is better to isolate the testes. A month after flowering, the seeds fall off easily, so collect them in time. Plants are cut at the root, collected in bunches, and hung out to dry in a dry ventilated room, with the testicles down. A cloth or paper is placed under the plants. Chicory seeds remain viable for 4-5 years.

Chicory coffee

For cooking chicory coffee the roots are cut into strips or cubes 6-20 mm wide, and dried at a temperature of 50-70 degrees. After that, it is fried, starting at a temperature of 50 degrees, and brought to 180 degrees, as when baking pies.When the chicory color turns golden, it is cooled and grinded. Dried chicory can be stored for 2-3 years in a closed glass jar.

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Advantages:

Natural chicory is good for you

Flaws:

There are doubts about the naturalness of the specified product.

All shops are inundated with this chicory. And it seems to be selling very well. as prices rise: last summer I cost 45 rubles at Monetka, this one - 87. And I drank, knowing that chicory is a useful piece. But my husband, who has traveled almost all over the world (such was the job), asked me a simple question: “Tell me, have you seen the fields where this chicory is grown? Or do you think that it is collected from meadows and clearings, dug out by hand? "
Indeed, I also travel a lot, but have not seen such crops. And in order to get 100 g of chicory for brewing, you need to dig up (I tried to do this - it's a hassle, I'll tell you! ...) a lot of the root of this plant, clean it from dirt, dry it, then fry it and grind it.
Lean roots - you need a lot of raw materials, the yield of the final product is very small. And your chicory is noticeably different in taste from the store one.

Usage time:	3 months
Price:	RUB 87
Year of release / purchase:	2014
Overall impression:	Is chicory growing in the store?
My mark:
Recommend to friends:	NO