Cichorium intybus from Eastern Anatolia: Phenolic composition, antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory activities

In the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey herbal tea or decoction made of Cichorium intybus L. is one of the broadly used traditional herbal remedies to treat diabetes, epilepsy, haemorrhoids, inflammation and digestive disorders. Antioxidant capacity of crude hydrophilic extracts of Eastern Anatolia grown C. intybus plant was comparable to numerous common medicinal and Chinese medicinal plants, with leaf exhibiting superior antioxidant potential. Lyophilised hydrophilic extract obtained from leaf comprised of hydroxycinnamic acids and flavonoids, with isomers of chlorogenic acid, caftaric acid, cichoric acid, and luteolin hexoside as the dominating compounds. This extract effectively suppressed the activity of isolated α-glucosidase, but the inhibitory activity towards α-amylase was limited, which supports the traditional application of chicory to suppress diabetes. The leaf extract also suppressed the activities of pancreatic lipase and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE). These findings suggest potential application of chicory from Eastern Anatolia in the prevention of metabolic syndrome.