Chicory (Cichorium intybus L. var. sativum) is agronomically important crop. Chicory is the main source for commercial inulin. Inulin acts in the organism in a similar way to dietary fibers, contributing to the improvement of the gastrointestinal system conditions. So, it has been interested by food and pharmaceutical industries in the production of functional foods, nutritional composites and medicines (Figueira G.M et al., 2004). For improvement of inulin content there is highly need to molecular breeding. We optimized a simple and efficient protocol for regeneration and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of chicory. The protocol has allowed routine transformation of several economically important chicory root cultivars to overcome some limitation in conventional breeding programme.
