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Chicory and its properties
The healing properties of chicory have been known since ancient times. It is widespread in the wild and can be easily grown in the garden.
Content
- General information
- Varieties of chicory
- Late ripe chicory varieties
- Best place to grow
- Sowing chicory
- Chicory Care
- Getting chicory seeds
- Chicory harvesting
- Chicory storage
- The use of chicory video
- Chicory for diabetes and obesity
- Making a chicory drink video
General information
In our country, chicory is cultivated only in specialized farms, although this useful, in the form of root, vegetable is necessary for those who do not allow real coffee to drink high blood pressure, heart or stomach diseases.
Now there is a huge assortment of chicory on sale. But its quality does not always correspond to the norm, and you can grow it yourself.
Cultivated chicory is grown in the same way as table beets, using the same agricultural methods.
In the first year, after planting, chicory forms a rosette of leaves and an underground root crop, weighing from 100 to 400 grams - it is also used for food.
If it is necessary to collect chicory seeds, in the second year after the root is planted in the ground, in mid-July it blooms and gives seeds.
Varieties of chicory
In Russia, chicory root for the coffee industry has been bred for many years in the Yaroslavl region.
At the Rostov Experimental Breeding Station, ongoing work is underway to identify the most productive varieties with a high accumulation of disaccharides and inulin.
After testing the early varieties, such as: Harpachi, Luxor, Vixor, Rexor.
Mid-season, such as: Meadows of Kuyavsk, Polyana Vitska, Yaroslavsky, Belogorka OS-2, Belogorka OS-3, Spicak, Tid Woq, Novipa.
Later: Gavrilov-Yamsky, Berquse, Cassel, Albino RVP - varieties from Canada, Europe and our country, farmers came to the conclusion that in our temperate climate it is best to grow early-ripening (with a growing season of up to 120 days) varieties.
These varieties have conical root crops and a large amount of inulin.
Late ripening varieties
Late-ripening varieties have cylindrical root crops (Gavrilov-Yamsky variety), yield a higher yield than almost ripe ones, accumulate more disaccharides, but in the middle zone of Russia and in the north of the country they do not have time to ripen, and this leads to worse storage.
In addition, chicory bloom is a reaction of a particular variety to cooling, therefore, underground sowing is undesirable, since many flowering plants grow.
Scientists of the station, using the best examples of chicory root, created the variety Petrovsky, with a shortened root crop. Petrovsky - surpasses foreign samples in yield, marketability of root crops, the content of dry matter and sugars in them, and at the same time is not inferior to them in the accumulation of inulin and phosphorus salts.
The Yaroslavl variety and three varieties from France are included in the register of selection achievements: Alexandrite, Crizalit, Fluor.
Best place to grow
For the cultivation of chicory, any areas except acidic and marshy are suitable, but chicory grows best on light fertile soils.
This vegetable is not recommended to be placed after other root crops that are affected by wireworms.
Sowing chicory
Sowing of chicory is carried out in the soil when it warms up to +5 degrees, at the same time as spring and grain.
Sow chicory in rows, wide aisles (45-70 cm.).
Chicory Care
Root chicory - a plant drought tolerant, but when watering gives a greater yield. Caring for chicory includes cultivating row-spacings, and the first treatment is carried out on seedlings and plant nutrition
Getting chicory seeds
Garden chicory is easily pollinated with wild chicory, therefore, to obtain their own seeds, uterine seed plants are best isolated with gauze caps.
Since about a month after flowering, the ripened seeds are easily crumbled, therefore, cutting the testes is done without waiting for the seeds to be completely ready.
After cutting, for seed ripening, sheaves are hung under a canopy. Seeds retain viability from 4 to 5 years. But chicory can be propagated and dividing the root crop into parts, each part gives life to a new plant.
Chicory harvesting
From the second half of September, before the onset of frost, root crops are harvested, but chicory winters well in the soil, can withstand frosts down to -30 degrees and at the same time retains its properties until the first leaves begin to sap and grow.
Therefore, to a private trader, on a personal plot, you can dig out the roots even in the beginning of spring, as soon as the ground is thawing, and uterine plants (for seeds) can be left in the garden.
Chicory storage
Dug chicory, stored in the basement at a temperature of +1 to +2 degrees, after trimming the aerial part and the root neck, washing the root vegetables in cold water.
Before laying in the basement, chicory is dried in the shade for several days until the root crops cease to secrete juice.
For processing, root crops are cut into 8x6 mm cubes. or circles 3-5 mm thick., dried on the lattice in the oven at a temperature of 50 to 70 degrees Celsius.
The use of chicory
Since tannins and intibin glycoside accumulate in the roots, and in wild chicory there is a lot of it, so it has a more pronounced therapeutic effect, but it tastes bitter.
Infusions and decoctions from chicory roots are used to increase appetite, improve digestion, and facilitate the functioning of the heart and nervous system.
Chicory for diabetes and obesity
Varietal chicory contains many polysaccharides, vitamins (B1, B2, C), inulin. Root crops with bitterness, fleshy, similar to sweet radish.
Since chicory root vegetables contain little starch, few carbohydrates, but a lot of fiber, this product is excellently used in the diet of patients with diabetes, obesity, it is used as a product in the diet for weight loss, is widely used in all cases associated with metabolic disorders.
Making a chicory drink
Varietal chicory is mainly cultivated for the sake of raw materials for making a drink similar to coffee.
Dried raw materials are placed in a deep baking sheet, put in an oven, preheated to +50 degrees. Gradually, the temperature was brought to +180 degrees, the raw materials were mixed several times with a spatula, thus chicory was fried.
When a characteristic cyclic aroma appears (fructose is caramelized), the pan is removed from the oven.
The fried pieces are immediately cooled, then placed in a coffee grinder and crushed powder is obtained at the output.
The resulting powder must be stored in a tightly closed jar, as it is able to absorb moisture and is thus compressed.
A tonic drink is brewed from this powder, the powder can be stored for 2 years.
