Abstract
Chicories produce a wide range of vegetables with important nutritional value. We determined the variation of sterol, total polyphenol, nitrate contents and antioxidant capacity (SC, TPC, NC, AC) in endive leaves and stem-chicory novel vegetables, cultivated in two Italian regions. Within a given area, the SC was similar in smooth- and curly leafed endives (106.3-176.0 mg/kg FW); sitosterol and stigmasterol were major fractions (45-56 versus 38-43%). The stem SC was independent of landrace (101.5-118.6 mg/kg FW); sitosterol prevailed on stigmasterol and fucosterol (73-76 versus 12-14% versus 8-9%); the latter reached 15.7 mg/kg FW, conferring value as potential antidiabetes food. The planting site affected the AC and TPC of endives (893.1-1571.4 μmTE/100 g FW, 30.8-76.1 GAE100/g FW) and chicory stems (729.8-1152.5 μmTE/100 g FW; 56.2-124.4 GAE100/g FW), while the NC was recurrently below dangerous thresholds. PCA showed that environment was the major cause of variation, though it modestly affected these parameters.
Keywords:
Phytosterols; antioxidant capacity; endive; nitrate content; novel vegetables; stem-chicory; total phenolic content.
MeSH terms
-
Antioxidants / analysis*
-
Antioxidants / chemistry
-
Antioxidants / metabolism
-
Asteraceae / chemistry*
-
Asteraceae / growth & development
-
Asteraceae / metabolism
-
Cichorium intybus / chemistry*
-
Cichorium intybus / growth & development
-
Cichorium intybus / metabolism
-
Crop Production
-
Crops, Agricultural / chemistry*
-
Crops, Agricultural / growth & development
-
Crops, Agricultural / metabolism
-
Food Contamination
-
Functional Food / analysis
-
Humans
-
Italy
-
Nitrates / analysis
-
Nitrates / chemistry
-
Nitrates / metabolism
-
Nutritive Value
-
Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity
-
Phenols / analysis
-
Phenols / chemistry
-
Phenols / metabolism
-
Phytosterols / analysis*
-
Phytosterols / biosynthesis
-
Phytosterols / chemistry
-
Plant Leaves / chemistry*
-
Plant Leaves / growth & development
-
Plant Leaves / metabolism
-
Plant Stems / chemistry*
-
Plant Stems / growth & development
-
Plant Stems / metabolism
-
Principal Component Analysis
-
Sitosterols / analysis
-
Sitosterols / chemistry
-
Sitosterols / metabolism
-
Spatio-Temporal Analysis
-
Species Specificity
-
Stigmasterol / analogs & derivatives
-
Stigmasterol / analysis
-
Stigmasterol / chemistry
-
Stigmasterol / metabolism
Substances
-
Antioxidants
-
Nitrates
-
Phenols
-
Phytosterols
-
Sitosterols
-
fucosterol
-
gamma-sitosterol
-
Stigmasterol