Caffeine free Woody Cape Chicory is locally harvested and produced. Chicory is derived from the root of the chicory plant is pre-biotic (it helps clean the body of toxins) and high in fibre.
Root chicory (Cichorium intybus var. sativum) has been in cultivation in Europe as a coffee substitute. The roots are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive, especially in the Mediterranean region (where the plant is native), although its use as a coffee additive is also very popular in India, parts of South-east Asia and the American South, particularly in New Orleans. It has also been popular as a coffee substitute in poorer economic areas, and has gained wider popularity during economic crises such as the Great Depression in the 1930s. Chicory, with sugar beet and rye was used as an ingredient of the East German Mischkaffee (mixed coffee), introduced during the "coffee crisis" of 1976-79.
Some beer brewers use roasted chicory to add flavour to their stouts.
Around 1970 it was found that the root contains up to 20% inulin, a polysaccharide similar to starch. Inulin is mainly found in the plant family Asteraceae as a storage carbohydrate (for example Jerusalem artichoke, dahlia etc.). It is used as a sweetener in the food industry (with a sweetening power approximately 90% less than sucrose)[6] and is sometimes added to yoghurt as a prebiotic. Inulin can be converted to fructose and glucose through hydrolysis. Inulin is also gaining popularity as a source of soluble dietary fibre.
Chicory root extract is a dietary supplement or food additive produced by mixing dried, ground, chicory root with water, and removing the insoluble fraction by filtration and centrifugation. Other methods may be used to remove pigments and sugars. Fresh chicory root typically contains, by dry weight, 68% inulin, 14% sucrose, 5% cellulose, 6% protein, 4% ash, and 3% other compounds. Dried chicory root extract contains, by weight, approximately 98% inulin and 2% other compounds.[7] Fresh chicory root may contain between 13 and 23% inulin, by total weight.[8]
Chicory root extract is high in inulin, and used as a high-fibre dietary supplement.
Read more on Chicory.
Last Updated on Monday, 15 February 2010 09:02