Abstract
BackgroundChicory (Cichorium intybus L.) is a traditional European crop that is highly appreciated for its contents of bioactive compounds, especially phenolics, which have high antioxidant activities. Among other factors, agricultural practice might affect the contents of these bioactive compounds, which are also important from a nutritional point of view, and affect the shelf-life.ResultsThe antioxidant potential (AOP) of chicory plants treated with different fertilisers was investigated in vitro using DPPH radical scavenging and in vivo using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Additionally, total phenolics content (TPC) was evaluated using Folin–Ciocalteu reagent, and total flavonoids content (TFC) using the aluminium chloride method. Four different chicory cultivars were included: ‘Treviso’, ‘Verona’ and ‘Anivip’ as red cultivars; and ‘Castelfranco’ as a red-spotted cultivar. These were grown in pots under controlled glasshouse conditions using organic and/or mineral fertilisers. The combination of organic and mineral fertilisers during red chicory growth resulted in significantly higher in-vitro and in-vivo AOPs compared to the control. For the red-spotted cultivar ‘Castelfranco’, this combined organic and mineral fertilisation decreased AOPs in vitro and increased AOPs in vivo. Among the cultivars examined, ‘Castelfranco’ treated with combined organic plus mineral fertilisers showed the highest AOP in vivo, accompanied by the lowest TPC and TFC.ConclusionsThese data show that application of different fertilisers has different impacts on red and red-spotted chicory cultivars in terms of TFC and TPC, which for red-spotted chicory resulted in different AOPs in vitro and in vivo. The in-vitro AOP is well reflected in the in-vivo AOP for the red chicory cultivars, but less so for the red-spotted cultivar ‘Castelfranco’. Based on the in-vivo AOPs for these chicory cultivars analysed, the combined organic plus mineral fertiliser treatment is recommended.
Highlights
Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) is a traditional European crop that is highly appreciated for its contents of bioactive compounds, especially phenolics, which have high antioxidant activities
Compared to the Control, the highest in-vitro antioxidant potential (AOP) was seen for the red cultivars ‘Treviso’, ‘Verona’ and ‘Anivip’ when treated with Organic+mineral fertiliser ENTEC perfect (Mineral) fertiliser (1.06, 1.11, 1.57 g Trolox equivalents (TE)/kg fresh weight (FW), respectively)
This study shows that the combination of an organic and a mineral fertiliser provided the highest in-vitro AOPs for the red chicory cultivars, and the highest invivo AOPs for the red and red-spotted chicory cultivars
Summary
Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) is a traditional European crop that is highly appreciated for its contents of bioactive compounds, especially phenolics, which have high antioxidant activities. Agricultural practice might affect the contents of these bioactive compounds, which are important from a nutritional point of view, and affect the shelf-life. Cichorium intybus L. is commonly known as chicory. It belongs to the family Asteraceae, and is widely distributed around the world, according to various uses. Chicory plants can be cultivated for food as the leaves, rosettes and heads, which are usually eaten raw in salads. Chicory has become an important vegetable and technical crop in many temperate regions over the last decade, especially in Europe, Asia and North America [1]. Organic farming using organic fertilisers and cover crops instead of mineral fertilisers is growing rapidly, with bans on the use of various pesticides, herbicides, hormones
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