Hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives occurring in Cichorium endivia vegetables

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Phytochemistry

Background:

• Chicory (Cichorium endivia) varieties contain diverse polyphenolic compounds.
• Hydroxycinnamic acids are significant secondary metabolites in plants.
• Understanding cultivar-specific phytochemical profiles is crucial for agricultural and nutritional applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To detect and characterize hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives in Chicorium endivia var. crispum and var. latifolium.
• To differentiate the polyphenol profiles between the two chicory varieties.

Main Methods:

• High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with a photodiode array detector (DAD).
• Electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) for structural elucidation.
• Combined HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS approach for comprehensive analysis.

Main Results:

• Four hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives were identified in each chicory extract.
• 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 3,4-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid, and 5-O-feruloylquinic acid were common to both varieties.
• 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid was characteristic of var. crispum.
• cis-Caftaric acid was identified as a marker for var. latifolium.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully differentiated polyphenol profiles of Chicorium endivia var. crispum and var. latifolium.
• The developed analytical method provides valuable data for hydroxycinnamic acid derivative identification.
• Findings contribute to the chemotaxonomic understanding of chicory cultivars.