benefits of endives

Benefits of Endives

71. Edible parts of Endive
Leaves raw or cooked. Leaves of wild plants are very bitter but there are many named forms with only aslight bitterness. The leaves are quite large and often form arosette like cabbages. They are very easy to harvest. Endive makes avery acceptable addition, in moderate quantities, to the salad bowl, though the leaves are too bitter for most tastes to be used as the main salad leaf. The leaves are often blanched (by excluding light from the growing plant) in order to reduce this bitterness, though this process also reduces the nutritional value of the plant.
72. Propagation of the herb
Seed sow in situ early to mid July for an autumn and winter crop and up to mid August for succession. Seedlings can be transplanted. Successional sowings can also be made from April onwards for asummer crop though these plants are liable to bolt in hot weather or if there is acold snap in late spring.
73. Plant used for Medicinal
The plant is used as aresolvent and cooling medicine, and in the treatment of bilious complaints. It has asimilar but milder effect to chicory (Cichorium intybus) and so is avery beneficial tonic to the liver and digestive system. The root is demulcent and tonic. It has been used in the treatment of dyspepsia and fevers. The fruit (this probably means the seed) has been used in the treatment of fevers, headaches, bilious complaints and jaundice.