Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes are widely studied for their involvement in metabolism of drugs and endogenous compounds. In porcine liver, CYP1A2, 2A and 2E1 are important for the metabolism of skatole. Feeding chicory roots to pigs is known to decrease the skatole concentration in plasma and fat. In the present study we investigated the effect of chicory on CYP mRNA and protein expression, as w...

The objective of this study was to explore the antioxidant levels and anticancer properties of chicory cultivated using three different kinds of fertilizers (i.e., developed, organic, and chemical) in the presence and absence of pesticides. Phenolic phytochemicals, including total polyphenols and flavonoids, and antioxidant activities, including reducing power, ABTS+ and DPPH radical scavenging...

This study aimed to explore the spectrum-effect relationships between high-performance liquid chromatography fingerprints and the uric acid-lowering activities of chicory. Chemical fingerprints of chicory samples from ten different sources were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography, and then investigated by similarity analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis. Pharmacodynamic...

We report the case of a patient working in a factory producing inulin from chicory who developed rhinoconjunctivitis and asthma to the dust of dry chicory roots and oral allergy syndrome to raw fruits and vegetables. Nonspecific bronchial hyperresponsiveness was diagnosed. A provocation test with dry chicory induced acute rhinoconjunctivitis and an immediate asthmatic response with no further c...

Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.), which is known to have a variety of terpene-hydroxylating activities, was screened for a P450 mono-oxygenase to convert (+)-valencene to (+)-nootkatone. A novel P450 cDNA was identified in a chicory root EST library. Co-expression of the enzyme with a valencene synthase in yeast, led to formation of trans-nootkatol, cis-nootkatol and (+)-nootkatone. The novel enz...

The content and composition of prebiotic plant fiber in the diet is important in promoting gut-related health. This study investigated the effects of the dietary inclusion of chicory forage and roots on the intestinal microenvironment of pigs. Thirty-seven-week-old pigs were fed 1 of 5 diets for 18 days, including a cereal-based control diet and 4 diets with the inclusion of 80 and 160 g kg(-1)...

Inulin has immense applications in health and nutrition as well as in food industries. Inulin is isolated from chicory roots by differential precipitation with ethanol (0-20, 20-40 and 40-60 per cent) from the aqueous extract of sun-dried roots, by melting the frozen chicory root extract and by removing the oligo-fructosachharides from chicory roots with 20 per cent ethanol. Different inulin pr...

This thesis provides a better understanding of interactions between diet, gut microbiota, and immune responses to a specific dietary fiber source, chicory (Cichorium intybus L). This was achieved by examining the impact of chicory fiber on animal performance, digestibility, gut development, commensal bacteria community structure in small and large intestine, and follow-up reactions with specifi...

The well known medicinal plant, Cichorium intybus L. (Asteraceae) contains dietary oligofructose compounds which have beneficial effect on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, other compounds e.g. polyphenol type derivatives could be responsible for the antioxidant properties reported in several studies before. Male Fischer rats were kept on normal and lipid rich diet supplemented with chicory ex...

Animal manure and urine deposition can cause localized patches of high ionic strength (IS) soil in pastures, influencing plant production, nutritive value and sward composition. Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) appears to thrive in high-nutrient input situations, but no information is available on chicory response to increasing IS. In a greenhouse experiment, we evaluated the effect of rhizospher...