Influence of the growth cycle on the bioactive properties and phenolic composition of Cynara cardunculus L. var altilis
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Cynara cardunculus L. (syn. Cardoon), is an erect perennial herbaceous plant, native to the Mediterranean basin. It is characterized by a high variety and richness in compounds with health benefits. Also, its cultivation and economic impact are highly important due to the diverse industrial applications (i.e. vegetable rennet, biomass, bioenergy, etc.) [1, 2]. Due to its increasing consumption and commercial interest, this study purposes the analysis of phenolic compounds and bioactive properties of different cardoon parts (heads, bracts, and seeds) collected in Greece during different maturation stages.The phenolic composition was determined by HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS. The antibacterial and antifungal activities were evaluated by applying the microdilution method. The cytotoxic effects were evaluated in four human tumor cell lines using the sulforhodamine B assay, while the anti- inflammatory activity was evaluated through the inhibition of NO production in macrophage cells. Finally, the antioxidant activity was measured through the TBARS and OxHLIA assays. The content in phenolic compounds decreased with the maturation process, except in the seed extract. All the tested samples exhibited antibacterial and antifungal activity, where lower MICs were observed when the plant reached maturity. Regarding the cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory activities, the earliest harvest stages revealed the highest activity, except for seeds.Moreover, with the maturation process, extracts presented higher capacity to OxHLIA and TBARS inhibition. The heterogeneity of the biological results reveals that other compounds than phenolic ones may be correlated with these bioactivities. This study proved the high biological potential of cardoon parts as also its possible use as a source of important bioactive compounds. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to understand which compounds are responsible for the observed bioactivities, as well as to find the stage of maturity that provides the best bioactive properties.
