Cichorium intybus (root)

Nomenclature

Cichorium intybus L.   Asteraceae  
Standardized common name (English): chicory  
Ayurvedic name(s): kasni  
Pinyin name(s): ju ju (aboveground parts)

Botanical Voucher Specimen

Source: MOBOT, Tropicos.org	Source: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Organoleptic Characteristics

The whole plant has a bitter taste, without acrimony or any very peculiar flavor. The taste is strongest in the root and weakest in the flowers. Source: United States Dispensatory (1918)

Macroscopic Characteristics

A perennial herbaceous composite plant. Source: United States Dispensatory (1918) [Chicory family] distinguished by alternate or basal leaves; milky acrid or bitter juice; flowers all alike, perfect, calyx-tube adnate to ovary, corolla gamopetalous, limb 5-toothed, anthers syngenesious; ovary 1-celled; fruit achene. [Chicory Root (Cichorium Intybus)] closely resembles taraxacum, but is paler and has milk vessels in radiating lines. Root with laticiferous vessels radiate, also is whiter, more woody, and has thinner bark than taraxacum. Source: Culbreth, D. (1917) A Manual of Materia Media and Pharmacology, 6th ed.

Microscopic Characteristics

Large tracheids observed at 400x with Acidified Chloral Hydrate Glycerol Solution. Source: Elan M. Sudberg, Alkemist Laboratories	An irregular mass of inulin observed at 400x with Acidified Chloral Hydrate Glycerol Solution. Source: Elan M. Sudberg, Alkemist Laboratories

High Performance Thin Layer Chromatographic Identification

Cichorium intybus HPTLC ID - 10% Ethanolic Sulfuric Acid Reagent UV 365 nm Chicory (root) (Cichorium intybus) Lane Assignments Lanes, from left to right (Track, Volume, Sample): 3 μL Oleanolic acid 3 μL Cichorium intybus-1 Vouchered Specimen (root) 3 μL Cichorium intybus-2 (root) 3 μL Cichorium intybus-3 (root) 3 μL Cichorium intybus-4 (root) 3 μL Cichorium intybus-5 (root) 3 μL Cichorium intybus-6 (root) 3 μL Ursolic Acid Reference materials used here have been authenticated by macroscopic, microscopic &/or TLC studies according to the reference source cited below held at Alkemists Pharmaceuticals, Costa Mesa, CA.  Stationary Phase Silica gel 60, F254, 10 x 10 cm HPTLC plates  Mobile Phase CH2Cl2: Petroleum ether [8/2]  Sample Preparation Method 0.3 g + 3 ml CH3OH sonicated + heated @ 50° C ~ 1 hr.  Detection Method 10% Ethanolic H2SO4 -> 115° C 15 min -> UV 365 nm  Reference see Pharmacopoeia of The Peoples Republic of China, Volume 1, 2005 Source: Elan M. Sudberg, Alkemist Laboratories