Organic versus conventional globe artichoke: Influence of cropping system and harvest date on physiological activity, physicochemical parameters, and bioactive compounds

Evaluation of the Phenolic Content and the Nutraceutical Potential of Ancestor and Cultivated Artichokes

“…compared organic farming systems to conventional ones and reported that artichoke heads from organic cropping system had higher levels of total phenols and a greater capacity for antioxidants with respect to conventional ones. [15] Like present findings, Falleh et al observed that the leaves of C. cardunculus showed the highest capacity to quench superoxide. [21] Kollia et al compared the heads, bracts, and stems of cardoon (C. cardunculus) with globe artichoke (C. scolymus) and considerably higher amounts of total phenolic content and antioxidant activity in the heads of cardoon was reported.…”

“…[31] Palma et al showed that artichoke heads grown in an organic system showed higher levels of chlorogenic acid compared to conventional system. [15] Spanu et al investigated the effects on yield, polyphenol content, and mineral content of globe artichoke heads of one typical conventional cultivation method and two alternative cropping systems having two different soil fertility resource management strategies (such as cover crop species and rotations) without mineral fertilization and pest and disease control. It was found that sustainable agronomic practices in the cultivation of the artichoke positively influenced the fresh product yield and nutritional characteristics (i. e. total polyphenol and mineral content).…”

“…[11] On the other hand, organic foods have been considered to have a higher antioxidant potential due to the increased production of secondary compounds such as polyphenols in organic cultivation systems. [10,[13][14][15] The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans used artichoke as food and medicine. The Egyptian king Ptolemy Euergetes eventually advised his army to consume artichokes since they were considered a source of power and courage.…”

“…[8,10,[19][20][21][22][23][24] C. cardunculus also exhibits hepatoprotective, hypocholesterolemic, anticarcinogenic, colon cancer protective, choleretic, anti-HIV, cardioprotective and diuretic properties. [8,15,18,23,25] Artichoke flower heads have been shown to have nutraceutical properties that can treat hepato-biliary disorders, dyspeptic conditions, gastric diseases, and inhibit cholesterol biosynthesis and LDL oxidative agents linked to arteriosclerosis and coronary heart problems in both in vivo and in vitro studies. [23] Antioxidant-rich artichoke extracts lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels.…”

Influence of Artichoke Antioxidant Activity in Their Susceptibility to Suffer Frost Injury

“…The qualitative and quantitative profile of artichokes can be influenced by several preharvest factors such as harvest date, genotype, agronomic management and environmental conditions [13,[25][26][27][28][29]. Moreover, previous studies have reported that total phenolic content in different artichoke cultivars are highly influenced by the flower head order.…”