Cichorium endivia - Botanischer Garten Mainz IMG 5453

Endive () is a

leaf vegetable Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, pot herbs, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender petioles and shoots. Leaf vegetables eaten raw in a salad can be called salad gre ...

belonging to the genus '' Cichorium'', which includes several similar bitter-leafed vegetables. Species include '' Cichorium endivia'' (also called endive), '' Cichorium pumilum'' (also called wild endive), and ''

Cichorium intybus Common chicory (''Cichorium intybus'') is a somewhat woody, perennial herbaceous plant of the family Asteraceae, usually with bright blue flowers, rarely white or pink. Native to the Old World, it has been introduced to North America and Austral ...

'' (also called common chicory). Common chicory includes types such as

radicchio Radicchio ( or ; ) is a perennial cultivated form of leaf chicory (''Cichorium intybus'', Asteraceae) sometimes known as Italian chicory because of its common use in Italian cuisine. It is grown as a leaf vegetable and usually has colorful white ...

, puntarelle, and Belgian endive. There is considerable confusion between ''Cichorium endivia'' and ''Cichorium intybus''.

''Cichorium endivia''

There are two main varieties of cultivated ''C. endivia'' chicon: * Curly endive, or frisée (var ''crispum''). This type has narrow, green, curly outer leaves. It is sometimes called chicory in the United States and is called ''chicorée frisée'' in French. Further confusion results from the fact that frisée also refers to greens lightly wilted with oil. * Escarole, or broad-leaved endive (var ''latifolia''), has broad, pale green leaves and is less bitter than the other varieties. Varieties or names include broad-leaved Batavian endive, grumolo, scarola, and scarole. It is eaten like other greens, sauteed, chopped into soups and stews, or as part of a green salad. File:Friseesalat1 fcm.jpg, Frisée

''Cichorium intybus''

''Cichorium intybus'' endive is popular in Europe, and is also known as leaf chicory. File:Cicoria catalogna, Italia, supermarket.jpg, Catalogna, also called asparagus endive File:Cicoria puntarelle Torino.JPG, Puntarelle, the prized central stalks of the Catalogna endive File:Cichorium intybus convar foliosum20120319 02.jpg, Belgian endive

Chemical constituents

Endive is rich in many vitamins and minerals, especially in

folate Folate, also known as vitamin B9 and folacin, is one of the B vitamins. Manufactured folic acid, which is converted into folate by the body, is used as a dietary supplement and in food fortification as it is more stable during processing an ...

and vitamins A and K, and is high in

fiber Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorpora ...

. It also contains

kaempferol Kaempferol (3,4′,5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone) is a natural flavonol, a type of flavonoid, found in a variety of plants and plant-derived foods including kale, beans, tea, spinach, and broccoli. Kaempferol is a yellow crystalline solid with a meltin ...

.DuPont, M. S., Day, A. J., Bennett, R. N., Mellon, F. A., Kroon, P. A., ''Absorption of kaempferol from endive, a source of kaempferol-3-glucuronide, in humans'', Eur J Clin Nutr 2004 Jun;58(6):947-54

References

External links

* * * * {{Cite Collier's, wstitle=Endive , short=x Cichorieae Leaf vegetables sv:Frisésallat