Original research articlePolyphenolic profile of green/red spotted Italian Cichorium intybus salads by RP-HPLC-PDA-ESI-MSn

•Identification of bioactive compounds in green Cichorium intybus Italian salads.•HPLC-DAD-ESI-MSn fingerprint of polyphenols.•“Variegato di Castelfranco” is the reachest in polyphenols among green chicories.•Ten hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives detected for the first time in green chicories.•Four flavonol derivatives detected for the first time in green chicories.

Today the consumption of fresh vegetables is highly recommended not only for the intake of nutrients, but also for the healthy properties of secondary metabolites involved in the prevention of many disorders. In the present work, phenolic acids and flavonoids extracted from four green (Cichorium intybus var. sativus and var. foliosum) and a red spotted (a cross between C. intybus var. silvestre cv “Treviso” and C. endivia var. foliosum) salads were characterized by high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry. Among the 76 compounds detected in this work, five organic acids (two malic acid derivatives, two pyroglutamic hexoside isomers, and cis-aconitic acid), ten hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives (ferulic, malonyl caffeoylquinic, and caffeoylmethylglutaroylquinic acids, cinnamoyl- and caffeoyl-malate, coumaroyl, sinapoyl, feruloyl, and coumaroylcaffeoyl glycosides, dicaffeoyl lactone, 3-O-caffeoyl-4-O-(3-hydroxyglutaroylquinic acid), four flavonols (quercetin-di-O-glucoside, quercetin-3-O-malonylhexosyl-7-O-hexoside, myricetin-3-O-glucoside, and isorhamnetin-3-O-glucoside), and cyanidin-3-O-glucuronyl-5-O-hexoside have been identified in chicory salads for the first time. These data, together with the results obtained in our previous investigations on Cichorium genus Italian salads, provide a contribution to a more exhaustive identification of the secondary metabolites profile of each considered plant, that could be also useful in building/selecting hybrids with agronomic and peculiar healthy features, even using traditional methods of cultivation.

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