Chicory (Cichorium intybus) is known to contain guaianolides, eudesmanolides, and germacranolides. These sesquiterpene lactones are postulated to originate from a common germacranolide, namely (+)-costunolide. Whereas a pathway for the formation of germacra-1(10),4,11(13)-trien-12-oic acid from farnesyl diphosphate had previously been established, we now report the isolation of an enzyme activi...

The sowing rows were revealed by a background correction, the background being obtained thanks to a median rank filter. The method was found efficient in eliminating the shadows. For the crop rows, a neural network was used to localise the plants. While the petiole and the leaves were easily separated from the soil, the chicory root and the soil having about the same colour and the lighting con...

Oligofructose and inulin, selective fermentable chicory fructans, have been shown to stimulate the growth of bifidobacteria, which are regarded as beneficial strains in the colon. Studies were designed to evaluate inulin (Raftiline) and oligofructose (Raftilose) for their potential inhibitory properties against the development of colonic aberrant crypt foci (ACF) in rats. ACF are putative prene...

Root chicory (Cichorium intybus var. sativum) is a cash crop cultivated for inulin production in Western Europe. This plant can be exposed to severe water stress during the last 3 months of its 6-month growing period. The aim of this study was to quantify the effect of a progressive decline in water availability on plant growth, photosynthesis, and sugar metabolism and to determine its impact o...

The experiment was carried out in 1999-2001 at the University of Agriculture in Krakow (Poland) to study the capacity of nine crops (red beet, field pumpkin, chicory, bean, barley, white cabbage, maize, alfalfa, and parsnip) to remove cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) from different soil horizons (0-20, 20-40, 40-60 cm). The content of exchangeable Cd, Pb, and Zn decreased along with the de...

Pure nonhydrolyzed inulin was directly converted to ethanol in a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process. An inulinase-hyperproducing mutant, Aspergillus niger 817, was grown in a submerged culture at 30 degrees C for 5 days. The inulin-digestive liquid culture (150 ml) was supplemented with 45 g of inulin, 0.45 g of (NH4)2SO4, and 0.15 g of KH2PO4. The medium (pH 5.0) was inocul...

We have studied the role of acidic pH as a barrier for the colonization of the plant apoplast by Erwinia chrysanthemi. A minitransposon containing a promoterless reporter gene, gus, was used for random mutagenesis of the bacterial genome. An acid-sensitive mutant, named BT119, was isolated and had the following differential features with respect to the wild-type strain: (i) inability to grow at...

Recent data reported that inulin-type fructans extracted from chicory roots regulate appetite and lipid/glucose metabolism, namely, by promoting glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) production in the colon. The Agave genus growing in different regions of Mexico also contains important amounts of original fructans, with interesting nutritional and technological properties, but only few data report th...