6-8 FB Chicory

 DOES CHICORY HAVE POTENTIAL as a new commercial crop for Idaho growers? The grower-owned Amalgamated Sugar Company is investigating the possibility and has grown and harvested chicory during the past few years. The Idaho-based sugar producer, whose cooperative processes sugar beets grown on 180,000 acres in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, is funding research by Don Morishita, superintendent of the University of Idaho’s Kimberly and Twin Falls Research and Extension Centers.

 Chicory contains an inulin-based soluble fiber, different from sucrose-based sugar beets. Inulin is a natural prebiotic fiber that is utilized with increasing demand in hundreds of applications in the food industry including yogurt and ice cream. Here’s Dr. Morishita: “The material they’re extracting from the roots of chicory is called inulin which is sugar and they’re looking at using this as a sweetner in various food products.”

 Morishita’s team seeks herbicides to control weeds in potential chicory crops