Chicory and Endive: Growing Practices and Nutritional Information

Chicory or common chicory is a popular salad leafy vegetable. Two major types of common chicory are radicchio chicory and Belgian endive or Witloof chicory. Scientific name of common chicory is Cichorium intybus. Endive is a leafy salad vegetable belonging to the genus Cichorium. Scientific name of endive is Cichorium endivia and it belongs to the family Asteraceae, the Daisy family. There is a wild variety of endive called ‘wild endive’ which is Cichorium pumilum. Endive is mainly grown for its edible leaves which may be consumed in its raw or cooked form. Raw leaves are used in salads. It can be cooked by stir-frying, boiling, steaming and many other ways like cooking any other leafy vegetable.