Editing Radicchio (section)

== History ==
[[Pliny the Elder]] wrote in ''[[Naturalis Historia]]'' that radicchio was useful as a [[blood]] purifier and an aid for [[insomniacs]]. Radicchio contains [[intybin]], a sedative/analgesic, as well as a type of [[flavonoid]], called [[anthocyanin]].

Modern cultivation of the plant began in the fifteenth century in the [[Veneto]], [[Friuli-Venezia Giulia]] and [[Trentino]] regions of [[Italy]], but the deep-red radicchio of today was engineered in 1860 by [[Belgians|Belgian]] [[agronomist]] [[Francesco Van den Borre]], who used a technique called ''imbianchimento'' (whitening), ''preforcing'', or [[Blanching (horticulture)|blanching]] to create the dark red, white-veined leaves. The plants are taken from the soil and placed in water in darkened sheds, where lack of light and ensuing inhibition of [[chlorophyll]] production cause the plants to lose their green [[pigmentation]].{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}