Some herbs bear hard woody stems unlike the usual soft green stalks. Common chicory or the Indian Kasni is one such perennial herbaceous plant hailing from the daisy family of Asteraceae. Its botanical
name is Cichorium intybus. Although it is indigenous to the Old World (Europe, Africa, Asia) but over time, chicory got widely exposed to the New World of Americas and Down Under (Australia) blooming its unique bright blue petals that seldom come in white or pink variety.
Believe it or not, chicory is also famously used as a coffee substitute. It is christened with other tags like blue sailors, succory, coffeeweed, wild endive, et al. Plus, the green chicory plant is raised as fodder for livestock.
Multi-tasking herb
A multipurpose herb, chicory unveils many noteworthy utilities via its leaves, buds and roots.
“People often tend to think of chicory purely as a coffee ingredient but the plant has far more to offer,” confirms certified nutrition coach Akshita Singla, who doubles up as the co-founder of Akya Wellness.
“The leaves have been eaten for centuries across the Mediterranean and South Asian kitchens, tossed into salads or cooked down like any bitter green. That bitterness signals compounds which support liver function and stimulate digestion. The buds are edible too, generally prepared the way one would use capers (unriped green buds of a prickly bush known as capparis spinosa). But it is the root that carries the most utility,” stresses Singla.
Roasted and ground, chicory becomes a coffee extender or a standalone brew. In extracted form, it yields inulin, a soluble prebiotic fibre with well-established gut health benefits. “Traditional medicine across cultures has long used chicory root as a liver tonic and anti-inflammatory, well before nutrition science emerged as a field of research and reasoning,” she further reveals.
Fibrous profile
