Dietary fiber is a nutritional concept based not on physiological functions but on defined chemical and physical properties. Recent definitions of dietary fiber differentiate inherent plant cell wall-associated fiber from isolated or synthetic fiber. For the latter to be defined as fiber, beneficial physiological effects should be demonstrated, such as laxative effects, fermentability, attenuat...

Increasing plant species diversity has been proposed as a means for enhancing annual pasture productivity and decreasing seasonal variability of pasture production facing more frequent drought scenarios due to climate change. Few studies have examined how botanical complexity of sown swards affects cow performance. A 2-year experiment was conducted to determine how sward botanical complexity, f...

Background: Jaundice is the most prevalent reason for infants’ hospitalization during their first month of birth, and herbal medicine has long been used alongside phototherapy to treat this problem. Objectives: The present systematic review investigates chicory’s influence on bilirubin levels in infants with jaundice. Methods: In study, Iranian databases, including Barekat Gostar, Scientific In...

Plant cell wall invertases and fructan exohydrolases (FEHs) are very closely related enzymes at the molecular and structural level (family 32 of glycoside hydrolases) but they are functionally different and are believed to fulfill distinct roles in plants. Invertases preferentially hydrolyze the Glc-Fru linkage in sucrose while plant FEHs have no invertase activity and only split terminal Fru-F...

Introduction. Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) is grown primarily for its edible tubers, which were first cultivated by native Americans before the arrival of the Europeans. Unlike most tubers, but in common with other members of the Asteraceae, the tubers store fructans instead of starch. Fructans are non-digestible carbohydrates considered functional food ingredients because they...

The sesquiterpene costunolide has a broad range of biological activities and is the parent compound for many other biologically active sesquiterpenes such as parthenolide. Two enzymes of the pathway leading to costunolide have been previously characterized: germacrene A synthase (GAS) and germacrene A oxidase (GAO), which together catalyse the biosynthesis of germacra-1(10),4,11(13)-trien-12-oi...

This review gives an overview of agricultural topics on a non-model species, in other words, leaf chicory. Often classified as a minor crop, “Radicchio”, the Italian name of leaf chicory, is assuming a very important role at both a local and national level, as it characterizes a high proportion of the agricultural income of suited areas. Botanical classification along the genus Cichorium is rep...

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of inulin or dandelion, chicory and Jerusalem artichoke powder on lipid indices and fatty acid profile in fattener tissues. The experiment involved 120 crossbred pigs (PL x PLW) x Duroc with an initial body weight of 25.0 +/- 0.5 kg. Animals were assigned into 6 groups. A diet for group I (control) did not comprise an inulin additive, group ...

Thielaviopsis basicola is a soil-borne fungal pathogen with a wide host range and a cosmopolitan distribution. It causes disease on many agricultural crops, and in South Africa is the causal agent of black pod rot of groundnuts and black root rot on chicory. Knowledge of the population diversity of T. basicola could provide valuable information regarding management strategies, the possible move...