Abstract
The globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus L. subsp. Scolymus (L.) Hegi) is a multi-year species rich in various classes of phytochemicals with known nutritional and pharmacological properties, such as polyphenols, sesquiterpene lactones, and terpenoids. Over the last decade, hybrids cultivars are transforming the artichoke market for their higher uniformity and stability over the traditional landraces, further increasing the potential of the artichoke as a source of commercial extracts and bioactive molecules. Our aim was to investigate the mineral and phytochemical profiles of leaves from seven seed-propagated hybrids by using an untargeted metabolomic approach based on ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Metabolomics identified several compounds in the tested varieties, namely 98 polyphenols, 123 sesquiterpene lactones, and 221 other metabolites. The phenolic content ranged from 3.01 mg Eq./g fw (for ‘Opera’) to 4.71 mg Eq./g fw (for ‘Opal’). Sesquiterpene lactones were, on average, 2.11 mg Eq./g fw. Multivariate statistics (HCA, PCA and OPLS-DA) highlighted the main metabolomics differences among cultivars, which weakly correlated with their agronomic classification. The seven cultivars showed distinctive metabolomics profiles, with ‘Opal’ and ‘Istar’ being the most valuable hybrids. The 3-hydroxyphenyl-valeric acid (a medium-chain fatty acid) and the 6-Gingesulfonic acid (a methoxyphenol) were the most discriminant markers. Our findings illustrated the quantitative and qualitative variation of several classes of phytochemicals in seed-propagated artichoke cultivars and allowed identifying distinctive metabolic signatures for both phenolic compounds and sesquiterpene lactones. This work supports the exploitation of the artichoke leaves from hybrid cultivars as a rich source of bioactive phytochemicals.
Highlights
IntroductionThe Asteraceae family, previously known as Compositeae, comprises different economically important crops with nutraceutical and pharmacological properties, such as the artichoke [1]
The Asteraceae family, previously known as Compositeae, comprises different economically important crops with nutraceutical and pharmacological properties, such as the artichoke [1].According to the Compositae Global Database, the artichoke is Molecules 2020, 25, 3795; doi:10.3390/molecules25173795 www.mdpi.com/journal/moleculesMolecules 2020, 25, 3795 classified as Cynara cardunculus subspecies scolymus (L.) Hegi, one of the various interfertile cultivated groups of this species.Epidemiological and pharmacological studies have demonstrated the health-promoting effects of globe artichoke extracts, including hypolipidemic, hepatoprotective, anti-obesity, anti-tumor, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activity [1]
We investigated the mineral composition of the leaves because minerals are usually retained in plant extracts and define some of their functional attributes
Summary
The Asteraceae family, previously known as Compositeae, comprises different economically important crops with nutraceutical and pharmacological properties, such as the artichoke [1]. Epidemiological and pharmacological studies have demonstrated the health-promoting effects of globe artichoke extracts, including hypolipidemic, hepatoprotective, anti-obesity, anti-tumor, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activity [1]. For this reason, in addition to the culinary use of the budding flower-head, the abundant leaf biomass of this species has gained importance as a raw material for the production of nutraceuticals, food preservatives, drugs and cosmetics [2,3]. Leaf extracts are rich in phenolic acids (e.g., isomers of caffeoylquinic acid), flavones (such as glycosidic forms of luteolin and apigenin), anthocyanins (mainly glycosidic derivatives of cyanidin), and lower-molecular-weight phenolics [5,6]
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