What Makes Bitter Endive So Healthy?

Endive is a slightly bitter-tasting lettuce that is botanically related to chicory and comes in two varieties. A distinction is made between curly and smooth endive. The smooth variant is also known as winter endive or escarole, the curly one as frisée. Endives are characterized by the relatively high content of minerals such as potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and sodium as well as various vitamins.

The bitter taste is caused by the bitter substance lactucopicrin (formerly: intybin). Also found in chicory and other lettuce varieties, lactucopicrin aids in digestion by stimulating bile flow.

100 grams of endive contains 1.7 mg of beta-carotene. The body forms vitamin A from the provitamin, which maintains natural vision. For comparison: conventional lettuce has only 1.1 mg, but iceberg lettuce has a whopping 3.6 mg of beta-carotene per 100 grams. In addition, 100 grams of endive contain an average of 110 micrograms of folic acid, which is about twice as much as in lettuce and iceberg lettuce is included. In addition, the folic acid is contained in a form that the body can absorb particularly easily. Among other things, the B vitamin plays an important role in cell development and division, in blood formation, and in various metabolic processes.

The endive also trumps the lettuce competition in terms of its mineral content. It contains more potassium and also has more than twice the calcium and phosphorus of lettuce and iceberg lettuce.

During the winter months, endives are mostly delivered to Germany from Italy and Spain, while they come to the markets from Germany during the season. So be sure to use them to try out our versatile endive salad recipes.