Cichorium intybus: A review on its medicinal importance

Natural ingredients have apparently been used as therapeutic agents since the beginning of time. Cichorium intybus L. is a plant that is used in a lot of traditional medicine systems to treat a lot of diseases. Chicory is a tiny scented biennial or perennial herb that is a member of the Asteraceae family. A phytochemical analysis found that the different parts of Cichorium intybus had sesquiterpene lactones, such as lactucin and lactucopicrin. They also had caffeic acid-based compounds like chlorogenic acid, cichoric acid, dicifeoyl tartaric and isochlorogenic acid. Flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloid, proteins, inulin, sugars, hydroxycoumarins and steroids were also found. This plant has been shown to have gastroprotective, anti-ulcer, antibacterial, cardioprotective, tumor inhibiting property, antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity, anti-fungal, anti-allergic, hepatoprotective, analgesic and anti-malarial properties. Chicory contains a variety of medicinally significant phytochemicals with therapeutic properties, such as the polysaccharide, inulin and the flavonoid esculin, bitter sesquiterpene lactones, coumarins,volatile compounds, flavonoids, vitamins and other substances. All of the pharmacological investigations included in the current study support the therapeutic benefit of Cichorium intybus L. In this way, the use of this plant for the treatment of human and animal diseases and reinforces the value of ethnobotanical methods as a source of bioactive compounds.