Chemical Composition of Cynara cardunculus L. var. altilis Bracts Cultivated in Central Greece: The Impact of Harvesting Time

Filipa Mandim,Spyridon A Petropoulos,Celestino Santos-Buelga,Kyriakos D Giannoulis,Isabel C F R Ferreira,Lillian Barros

doi:10.3390/agronomy10121976

Filipa Mandim, Spyridon A Petropoulos + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10121976

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Abstract

The present study evaluated the effect of maturity stage on the chemical composition of cardoon bracts. Plant material was collected in Greece at eight different maturation stages (C1–C8) and the chemical composition was analyzed in regard to lipidic fraction and the content in fatty acids, tocopherols, organic acids, and free sugars. Samples of late maturity (C6–C8) revealed the lowest lipidic content, while a total of 29 fatty acids was identified in all the samples, with palmitic, stearic, oleic, and eicosatrienoic acids present in the highest levels depending on harvesting time. Immature (C1) and mature (C8) bracts were more abundant in saturated fatty acids (SFA) than bracts of medium-to-late maturity (C5, C6), where the monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) were the prevalent class. The α- and γ-tocopherols were the only identified isoforms of vitamin E, while the highest content was observed in sample C8 (199 µg/100 g dry weight (dw). The detected organic acids were oxalic, quinic, malic, citric, and fumaric acids, while fructose, glucose, sucrose, trehalose, and raffinose were the main detected sugars. The results of the present study allowed us to reveal the effect of maturity stage on cardoon bracts chemical composition and further valorize this byproduct by improving its bioactive compounds content.

Highlights

Cynara cardunculus L. is a species widely distributed throughout the world, especially in the circum-Mediterranean sea area where it was domesticated for the first time [1]
The results related to the lipidic fraction and the fatty acids composition are shown in Tables 1 and 2, as well as the proportions of saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and the PUFA/SFA and n-6/n-3 ratios
Twenty-nine individual fatty acids were identified in cardoon bracts collected at different maturation stages, with palmitic (C16:0, 0.95–44%), stearic (C18:0, 6.64–44.37%), oleic (C18:1n9c, 4.16–29.0%), and eicosatrienoic (C18:2n6c, 2.27–16.852%) acids being present in the highest concentrations

Summary

Introduction

Cynara cardunculus L. is a species widely distributed throughout the world, especially in the circum-Mediterranean sea area where it was domesticated for the first time [1]. Scolymus (L.) Fiori), and the wild cardoon Known as cardoon or artichoke thistle, it is widely used due to its multifaceted properties as a food ingredient and in various industrial applications [2,3,4]. This species has high nutritional, pharmacological, and industrial value, and, it has been used since ancient times, it was only in the last decades that cardoon gained attention [5].

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