Cardoon inflorescences (heads) contain achenes, which are used for the production of edible oil and biodiesel but also represent a phenolic source. This research aimed at determining the level of bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity of cardoon achenes and investigating their qualitative and quantitative variations in achenes harvested from heads having different insertion order on main stem. The head order significantly affected the number of achenes per head and one thousand weight but did not affect the achene values of antioxidant capacity and concentrations of total phenolic (107.7-117.4 g gallic acid equivalent kg-1 dry weight), as well as the concentration of chlorogenic and 3,5-di-O-E-caffeoylquinic acids. Conversely, the absolute amounts of these metabolites differed significantly among head order when referred to a single achene or head. About 75% of their absolute values per cardoon plant were produced by achenes belonging to secondary and tertiary heads.
Keywords: Cynara cardunculus var altilis; bioactive compounds; industrial crop.