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Chicory
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 Europe, it has been introduced to the Americas and Australia. Many varieties are cultivated for salad leaves, chicons ( blanched buds), or roots (var. ''sativum''), which are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and food additive. In the 21st century, inulin, an extract from chicory root, has been used in food manufacturing as a sweetener and source of dietary fiber. Chicory is also grown as a forage crop for livestock. Description When flowering, chicory has a tough, grooved, and more or less hairy stem. It can grow to tall. The leaves are stalked, lanceolate and unlobed; they range from in length (smallest near the top) and wide. The flower heads are wide, and usually light blue or lavender; it has also rarely been described as white or pink. Of the two rows of involucral bracts, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blanching (horticulture)
Blanching is a technique used in vegetable growing. Young shoots of a plant are covered to exclude light to prevent photosynthesis and the production of chlorophyll, and thus remain pale in color. Different methods used include covering with soil ( hilling or earthing up) or with solid materials such as board or terracotta pots, or growing the crop indoors in darkened conditions. Blanched vegetables generally tend to have a more delicate flavor and texture compared to those that are not blanched, but blanching can also cause the vegetables to be lower in vitamin A. Examples Vegetables that are usually blanched include:MM. Vilmorin-Andrieux; W.Robinson. 1885/undated. ''The vegetable garden: Illustrations, descriptions, and culture of the garden vegetables of cold and temperate climates, English Edition''. Jeavons-Leler Press and Ten Speed Press1920 edition in Internet Archive/ref> * Cardoon * Celery * Chicory (''Chicorium intybus''), or common chicory, in the United States also cal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inulin
Inulins are a group of naturally occurring polysaccharides produced by many types of plants, industrially most often extracted from chicory. The inulins belong to a class of dietary fibers known as fructans. Inulin is used by some plants as a means of storing energy and is typically found in roots or rhizomes. Most plants that synthesize and store inulin do not store other forms of carbohydrate such as starch. In 2018, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved inulin as a dietary fiber ingredient used to improve the nutritional value of manufactured food products. Using inulin to measure kidney function is the "gold standard" for comparison with other means of estimating glomerular filtration rate. Origin and history Inulin is a natural storage carbohydrate present in more than 36,000 species of plants, including agave, wheat, onion, bananas, garlic, asparagus, Jerusalem artichoke, and chicory. For these plants, inulin is used as an energy reserve a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coffee Substitute
Coffee substitutes are non-coffee products, usually without caffeine, that are used to imitate coffee. Coffee substitutes can be used for medical, economic and religious reasons, or simply because coffee is not readily available. Roasted grain beverages are common substitutes for coffee. In World War II, acorns were used to make coffee, as well as roasted chicory and grain. Postum, a bran and molasses beverage, also became a popular coffee substitute during this time. During the American Civil War coffee was also scarce in the Southern United States: Things like rye and ground sweet potato were some of the most popular substitutes at this time. Coffee substitutes are sometimes used in preparing food and drink served to children, to people who believe that coffee is unhealthy, and to people who avoid caffeine for religious reasons. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) advises its members to refrain from drinking coffee, as church doctrine interprets ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salad Leaves
Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by their petioles and shoots, if tender. Leaf vegetables eaten raw in a salad can be called salad greens, whereas leaf vegetables eaten cooked can be called pot herbs. Nearly one thousand species of plants with edible leaves are known. Leaf vegetables most often come from short-lived herbaceous plants, such as lettuce and spinach. Woody plants of various species also provide edible leaves. The leaves of many fodder crops are also edible for humans, but are usually only eaten under famine conditions. Examples include alfalfa, clover, and most grasses, including wheat and barley. Food processing, such as drying and grinding into powder or pulping and pressing for juice, may involve these crop leaves in a diet. Leaf vegetables contain many typical plant nutrients, but their vitamin K levels are particularly notable since they are photosyn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. He is known as the "father of modern Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy". Many of his writings were in Latin; his name is rendered in Latin as and, after his 1761 ennoblement, as . Linnaeus was the son of a curate and was born in Råshult, in the countryside of Småland, southern Sweden. He received most of his higher education at Uppsala University and began giving lectures in botany there in 1730. He lived abroad between 1735 and 1738, where he studied and also published the first edition of his ' in the Netherlands. He then returned to Sweden where he became professor of medicine and botany at Uppsala. In the 1740s, he was sent on several journeys through Sweden to find and classify plants and animals. In the 1750s and 1760s, he co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lactucin
Lactucin is a bitter substance that forms a white crystalline solid and belongs to the group of sesquiterpene lactones. It is found in some varieties of lettuce and is an ingredient of lactucarium. It is also found in dandelion coffee. It has been shown to have analgesic and sedative A sedative or tranquilliser is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or Psychomotor agitation, excitement. They are central nervous system (CNS) Depressant, depressants and interact with brain activity, causing its decelera ... properties, which are speculated to occur via modulation of the GABAA receptor, as well as antimalarial activity. See also * Lactucopicrin References Sesquiterpene lactones Primary alcohols Secondary alcohols Enones Azulenofurans Lactones Vinylidene compounds Diols {{ketone-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lactucopicrin
Lactucopicrin (Intybin) is a bitter substance that has a sedative and analgesic effect, acting on the central nervous system. It is a sesquiterpene lactone, and is a component of lactucarium, derived from the plant ''Lactuca virosa'' (wild lettuce), as well as being found in some related plants such as '' Cichorium intybus''. It is also found in dandelion coffee. As well as their traditional use as sedatives and analgesics, these plants have also been used as antimalarials, and both lactucin and lactucopicrin have demonstrated antimalarial effects ''in vitro''. Lactucopicrin has also been shown to act as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. See also * Lactucin Lactucin is a bitter substance that forms a white crystalline solid and belongs to the group of sesquiterpene lactones. It is found in some varieties of lettuce and is an ingredient of lactucarium. It is also found in dandelion coffee. It has b ... References {{Acetylcholine metabolism and transport modulator ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aesculetin
Aesculetin (also known as esculetin, 6,7-dihydroxycoumarin and cichorigenin) is a derivative of coumarin. It is a natural lactone that derives from the intramolecular cyclization of a cinnamic acid derivative. It is present in chicory and in many toxic plant, toxic and medicinal plants, in form of glycosides and caffeic acid conjugates. This compound is used in some sunscreens, but there is evidence that it acts as a photosensitizer for DNA damage. The sodium salt of its methyl-derivative is used in dermatology for the treatment of varicose veins. It is a blue fluorescence compound found in plants. Aesculin, the glucoside of aesculetin, will fluorescence, fluoresce under long wave ultraviolet light (360 nanometre, nm). The hydrolysis of aesculin results in loss of this fluorescence. Aesculetin has the ability to quench the inner fluorescence of bovine serum albumin. Aesculetin can be transformed into scopoletin (7-hydroxy-6-methoxycoumarin) and isoscopoletin (6-hydroxy-7-me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aesculin
Aesculin, also called æsculin or esculin, is a coumarin glucoside that naturally occurs in the trees horse chestnut (''Aesculus hippocastanum''), California buckeye (''Aesculus californica''), and prickly box (''Bursaria spinosa''). It is also found in daphnin (the dark green resin of '' Daphne mezereum''), dandelion coffee, and olive bark. It is reported to be present in olive bark, but not in olive leaf; therefore, identification of aesculin in abundance in an olive extract indicates that the extract has been derived from olive bark. Uses Aesculin is also used in a microbiology laboratory to aid in the identification of bacterial species (especially ''Enterococci'' and Listeria). In fact, all strains of Group D Streptococci hydrolyze aesculin in 40% bile. Aesculin hydrolysis test Aesculin is incorporated into agar with ferric citrate and bile salts ( bile aesculin agar). [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scopoletin
Scopoletin is a coumarin found in the root of plants in the genus '' Scopolia'' such as ''Scopolia carniolica'' and '' Scopolia japonica'', in chicory, in '' Artemisia scoparia'', in the roots and leaves of stinging nettle (''Urtica dioica''), in the passion flower, in '' Brunfelsia'', in ''Viburnum prunifolium'', in ''Solanum nigrum'', in ''Datura metel'', in '' Mallotus resinosus'', and in ''Kleinhovia hospita''. It can also be found in fenugreek, vinegar, some whiskies and in dandelion coffee. A similar coumarin is scoparone. Scopoletin is highly fluorescent when dissolved in DMSO or water and is regularly used as a fluorimetric assay for the detection of hydrogen peroxide in conjunction with horseradish peroxidase. When oxidized, its fluorescence is strongly suppressed. Chemistry Biosynthesis Like most phenylpropanoids, the biosynthetic precursor to scopoletin acid is 4-coumaroyl-CoA. Scopoletin is derived from 1,2-benzopyrones which is the core structure of coumarins for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Umbelliferone
Umbelliferone, also known as 7-hydroxycoumarin, hydrangine, skimmetine, and ''beta''-umbelliferone, is a natural product of the coumarin family. It absorbs ultraviolet light strongly at several wavelengths. There are some indications that this chemical is antimutagenic, it is used in sunscreens. Umbelliferone has been reported to have antioxidant properties. It is a yellowish-white crystalline solid that has a slight solubility in hot water, but high solubility in ethanol. Natural occurrences and name Umbelliferone's name is from the umbelliferae family of plants, and the plant family in turn was named for their umbrella-shaped inflorescences, each called an umbel. Umbelliferone occurs in many familiar plants from the Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) family such as carrot, coriander and garden angelica, as well as in plants from other families, such as the mouse-ear hawkweed (''Hieracium pilosella'', Asteraceae) or the bigleaf hydrangea (''Hydrangea macrophylla'', Hydrangeaceae, under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
