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Chicory is one of the most useful plants in traditional medicine and has various therapeutic properties and chemical compounds. Due to the variety of climatic conditions of Iran, the chemical composition and biological stress of chicory grown in different regions of Iran may be different from chicory grown in other countries. Therefore, this research was conducted to investigate phytochemistry including the identification and measurement of some phenolic compounds in the hydroalcoholic extracts of the Cichorium intybus L. (collected from 6 localities) in order to compare with chicory grown in other parts of the world. Based on the studied articles and existing standards, 9 compounds including chicoric acid, chlorogenic acid, rosmarinic acid, caffeic acid, salicylic acid, gallic acid, catechin, quercetin, and rutin were selected and examined in the extract of the aerial part and roots of the plant by HPLC. Among the studied compounds, chicoric acid (0.55 to 6.04 mg per gram of dry plant), chlorogenic acid (0.50 to 5.37 mg per gram of dry plant), and rutin (0.56 to 2.25 mg per gram of dry plant) were found in the extracts of aerial parts and chicoric acid (0.03% to 0.29 mg per gram of dry plant) and chlorogenic acid (0.84% to 2.88 mg per gram of dry plant) were found in the extracts of roots of all samples. Among the studied populations, the highest amounts of major compounds (chicoric acid and chlorogenic acid) were observed in the aerial parts of the sample collected from the National Botanical Garden of Iran with 6.04 mg of chicoric acid and 5.37 mg chlorogenic acid. The results show that although the amount of main compounds of the cultivated sample is different from of that of wild samples, but the nature of the main compounds and the pattern of the HPLC spectrum of all the samples are close to each other and similar to the chicory grown outside of Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study is to investigate and compare the physicochemical properties of the essential oil obtained from the oleo-gumresin of two Ferula gummosa populations from Isfahan and Fars habitats. For this purpose, the oleo-gum-resin of F. gummosa was collected from two areas in Maragh, Kashan and Eqlid, Fars. The essential oil was then extracted from the fresh oleo-gum-resin by water and steam distillation. The essential oil was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively using GC and GC/MS devices. The appearance and physical and chemical characteristics of the essential oil of two populations of F. gummosa including their relative density, refractive index, optical rotation, and phytochemicals were investigated and compared. According to the results, F. gummosa essential oil is a transparent and colourless liquid with a turpentine odour and a green woody scent. The essential oils of two populations of Kashan and Eqlid have relative densities of 0.874 and 0.869, refractive indices of 1.4810 and 1.4795, and optical rotations of 11.35° and 23.52°, respectively. The comparison of the average physical traits of the essential oils of two F. gummosa populations shows that there is no significant difference in the characteristics of relative density and refractive index while there is a significant difference in the amount of optical rotation, which is due to the difference in the content of optically active compounds in the profiles of the two essential oil samples. Based on the essential oil analysis, hydrocarbon monoterpenes including β-pinene (71% and 68.8%), δ-3-carne (9.4% and 5.2%), limonene (2.4% and 15.6%), myrcene (3.9% and 2.4%), and α-pinene (3.6% and 3.4%) were identified as the main compounds in two F. gummosa populations from Kashan and Eqlid, respectively. The difference between two F. gummosa populations in the amount of essential oil components is related to factors such as altitude, climate and precipitation of the two habitats. Although the physicochemical properties of the essential oil of two F. gummosa populations studied are in good agreement with the international standard (ISO), the advantage of Fars F. gummosa is the high content of limonene in the essential oil, and this indicates the ability of Iranian galbanum to compete in foreign markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of present study were to investigate the effects of Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) and Hypericum perforatum extracts on immune indices and antioxidant enzymes activity of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). For this purpose, 720 fish with an average weight of 100±5 g were randomly allocated to four distinct treatments including: a control group, 3% chicory extract, 3% extract of H. perforatum and combined treatment containing 1.5% chicory extract and 1.5% extract of ) H. perforatum). The experiments lasted for 12 weeks. Immune parameters including lysozyme, alternative complement activity and total immunoglobulin content of serum along with the activity of antioxidant enzymes namely catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase were measured. Our results showed that dietary supplementation of 3% chicory extract significantly increased total immunoglobulin and lysozyme enzyme activity compared to the control group (p

Background & objectives: Non-alcoholic fatty liver is one of the most common diseases. Nutrition and exercise are recommended for the patients with this disease, and chicory is considered due to its protective effects on the liver. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of chicory extract along with treadmill walking on the hepatic transaminases levels and tissue changes in rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Methods: In this experimental study, 56 mature male rats were divided into control (without treatment), sham (treatment with high-fat diet 10 ml/kg) and 5 experimental groups receiving high-fat diet (10 ml/kg) with 200 and 100 mg/kg chicory extract alone and with treadmill walking. Chicory was administered as gavage in 28 consecutive days. At the end, after anesthetizing the animals and collecting blood from their hearts the Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST), Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT) and Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) enzymes were measured. The their livers were removed and after preparing the tissue sections, the results of hepatic enzymes measurements were analyzed by ANOVA and Duncan tests and P≤0.05 was considered significant. Results: The results showed that high-fat diet increased AST, ALT and ALP enzymes and hepatic tissue damage compared to the control group at p

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of extracted inulin from chicory root and commercial inulin on synbiotic yogurt properties during 21 days at refrigerator storage. Inulin powder from chicory root (0, 1.5, 3 and 4%) and commercial inulin (0, 1, 2 and 3%) were used in synbiotic yogurt containing Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium lactis. The addition of commercial inulin and the extracted inulin powder increased acidity and consequently decreased pH. Adding commercial inulin to milk increased the viscosity and reduced the final product syneresis. The extracted inulin powder at low concentrations had a positive effect on these properties. By increasing storage time, the acidity and syneresis of the synbiotic yogurt increased and pH decreased. The presence of these compounds in milk had a positive effect on the viability of the probiotics bacteria in yogurt, which the effect of commercial inulin on the survival of probiotic bacteria being greater than that of the extracted inulin. Addition of commercial inulin had no significant effect on the color properties of the yogurt samples, while the addition of the extracted inulin powder significantly reduced the brightness index (L*) compared to the control sample and increased the redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) indexes. All sensory properties improved by increasing commercial inulin, whereas 1.5% of the extracted inulin powder had no negative effect on sensory properties of the synbiotic yogurt compared to control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chicory plant is known as one of the main sources of industrial and commercial production of inulin. Inulin composition and its functional features depend on various parameters, including genetic characteristics and plant origin, growth environmental conditions and harvesting time, and also extraction method as well as the post extraction methods. The aim of this study was to evaluate native and exotic cultivars of chicory in terms of inulin production efficiency. The Results showed that the efficiency of inulin in indigenous landrace was relatively low while foreign cultivars revealed higher inulin content. By considering the significant difference between root weight and inulin content, foreign genotype (Orchies) was chosen to achieve optimal conditions for extracting inulin-type fructans. Response Surface Methodology and Central Composite Design were employed to investigate the effect of independent variables of time (20 to 60 min), temperature (50 to 80° C) and water to solids ratio (5:1-12:1) on the extraction efficiency. The Results demonstrated that the most effective factors in the efficiency of inulin extraction were temperature and the ratio of water to solids, while, the time had less effect on the extraction process.

Agrobacterium rhizogenes induced hairy roots gain of the potential of production and accumulation of plant secondary metabolites. In recent decades, many researchers have focused on the biosynthesis of valuable secondary metabolites in hairy roots, because genetically modified roots produce such compounds with more genetic and biosynthetic stability than cell suspension cultures. Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) is a biennial or perennial medicinal plant from Asteraceae. The plant contains many important metabolites including inulin, scoline, coumarin, vitamins, flavonoids and aromatics. In this study, with the aim of optimizing hairy root culture establishment, cotyledons of Chicory plants inoculated with different strains of Agrobacterium rhizogenes were cultured on different plant tissue culture media. Numbers of hairy roots produced in different experiments were recorded and molecular confirmation of hairy root clones was performed through specific amplification of rolB and rolC genes in PCR reactions. Based on the efficiency of hairy root induction in different experiments, the best combination of bacterial strain-culture medium for establishing hairy root cultures of Chicory were determined. Agrobacterium rhizogenes strains A4, A13 and 15834 induced hairy roots in Chicory and MS medium was considered as the best culture medium for developing and establishment of hairy root cultures.

Background and purpose: Regarding the effective role of plant flavonoids in the prevention and treatment of diabetes mellitus, in this investigation, induction of P19 stem cells differentiation into insulin producing cells by flavonoids of methanol extract of Cichorium intybus L. leaf was examined. Materials and methods: Initially, flavonoids of methanol extract of Cichorium intybus L. leaf were concentrated. The P19-derived embryonic bodies were cultured in α-MEM (Minimum Essential Medium) containing 15% fetal bovine serum for three days. To induce the differentiation, the cells treated with the concentrations of 50, 100 and 200 μg/ml of flavonoids of methanol extract of Cichorium intybus L. leaf for 12 days. Untreated P19 cells and embryonic bodies were used as controls. Dithizone staining, immunoflorecence and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) techniques were used to demonstrate the differentiated cells. Results: Differentiated P19 cells by different concentrations of extract shown positive reaction to dithizone staining. Most percentage of positive dithizone cells was reached in concentration of 100 μg/ml. Immunoflorecence method showed that differentiated P19 cells were able to express the pancreas beta cell-specific markers. Pdx-1 gene expression in the cells was demonstrated by RT-PCR technique. Conclusion: The flavonoids of methanol extract of Cichorium intybus L. leaf are able to induce differentiation of P19 stem cells to insulin producing cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]