Modern and sustainable production of safe and healthy high quality vegetables for human consumption is nowadays the goal of many producers. Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) has become an important crop used as food in many countries over the past decade. In this work fi eld and glasshouse trials were conducted to compare phenolic profi les of hydroponically forced leaves and leaves produced as co...

Some wild Mediterranean plants used as traditional food are an extraordinary source of antioxidants. We tested some properties of 10 of these herbaceous plants, used in Liguria (Northwest Italy) to prepare a traditional dish known as "prebuggiun." A total of 9 of them were found to have a polyphenol content and antioxidant properties similar or better than those of red chicory and blueberry, wh...

Alimurgic species are edible wild plants growing spontaneously as invasive weeds in natural grassland and farmed fields. Growing interest in biodiversity conservation projects suggests deeper study of the multifunctional roles they can play in metal uptake for phytoremediation and their food safety when cultivated in polluted land. In this study, the responses of the tap-rooted perennial specie...

This study focuses on the preventive effects of aqueous extract of Cichorium intybus (CIE) on streptozotocin (STZ) induced β-cell damage. Pancreatic β-cells or islet were treated with STZ in presence and absence of Cichorium intybus and the inhibitory effect of it against STZ toxicity were determined in RINm5F (RIN) rat insulinoma cells. Cell viability, Nitric oxide production and Insulin secre...

Fructans were extracted from Agave salmiana juice, characterized and subjected to hydrolysis process using a commercial inulinase preparation acting freely. To compare the performance of the enzymatic preparation, a batch of experiments were also conducted with chicory inulin (reference). Hydrolysis was performed for 6 h at two temperatures (50, 60 °C) and two substrate concentrations (40, 60 m...