Wild and Cultivated Centaurea raphanina subsp. mixta: A Valuable Source of Bioactive Compounds

Abstract

Centaurea raphanina subsp. mixta (DC.) Runemark is a wild edible species endemic to Greece. This study evaluated the chemical composition and bioactive properties of wild and cultivated C. raphanina subsp. mixta plants. Wild plants had higher nutritional value than cultivated ones, whereas cultivated plants contained more tocopherols. Glucose and sucrose were higher in cultivated plants and trehalose in wild ones. Oxalic and total organic acids were detected in higher amounts in cultivated samples. The main fatty acids were α-linolenic, linoleic and palmitic acid, while wild plants were richer in polyunsaturated fatty acids. Two pinocembrin derivatives were the main phenolic compounds being detected in higher amounts in wild plants. Regarding the antioxidant activity, wild and cultivated plants were more effective in the oxidative haemolysis (OxHLIA) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) assays, respectively. Moreover, both extracts showed moderate cytotoxicity in non-tumor cell lines (PLP2), while cultivated plants were more effective against cervical carcinoma (HeLa), breast carcinoma (MCF-7) and non-small lung cancer (NCI-H460) cell lines. Finally, wild plants showed higher antimicrobial activity than cultivated plants against specific pathogens. In conclusion, the cultivation of C. raphanina subsp. mixta showed promising results in terms of tocopherols content and antiproliferative effects, however further research is needed to decrease oxalic acid content.

Chemical Composition and Plant Growth of Centaurea raphanina subsp. mixta Plants Cultivated under Saline Conditions

“…The tocopherols composition is presented in Table 3, where the αand γ-tocopherols were the only detected isoforms of vitamin E, a finding that is in accordance with the recent report of Petropoulos et al [40], who also detected the same compounds. However, the individual and total tocopherols content was higher in our study, especially under saline conditions where a two-to three-fold increase was observed compared with the cultivated plants in the study of Petropoulos et al (0.185 mg/100 g, 0.067 mg/100 g and 0.26 mg/100 g fw of α-, γand total tocopherols, respectively) [40]. The most abundant tocopherol was α-tocopherol which was the richest in leaves of the second harvest, especially in the control and S1 treatments (0.68 mg/100 g and 0.69 mg/100 g fw, respectively), where the highest content of total tocopherols was also observed (0.73 mg/100 g and 0.74 mg/100 g fw, respectively).…”

“…The presented results were within the same range of a recent report of our team where cultivated and wild C. raphanina subsp. mixta were compared [40], although the carbohydrates content and the energetic value of the present study were lower than the wild plants in the study of Petropoulos et al (9.7 g/100 fw of carbohydrates and 54.1 kcal/100 g fw) [40]. Therefore, it seems that cultivation practices such as saline irrigation water and harvesting time may affect the nutritional value and macronutrients content of C. raphanina subsp.…”

“…mixta (DC.) Runemark (also known as agginaráki or alivárvaron [39]) is a perennial species of the Asteraceae family, which is native in the Mediterranean Basin and endemic to Greece and resembles the flowers of globe artichoke, both of which belong to the same tribe Cynarae [40][41][42]. It is believed that its name refers to Chiron, who according to Greek mythology was the leading centaur with exceptional knowledge in botany and the therapeutical properties of herbs.…”

“…However, there is limited information regarding the nutritional value and the chemical composition of C. raphanina subsp. mixta [40,45], whereas no literature reports exist regarding the effects of cultivation practices on the plant growth and on the chemical composition and bioactive properties of the edible plant parts. According to Fernández-Marín et al [46], the domestication of wild species may have a variable effect on specific compounds such as tocopherols and fatty acids, while recently Namzer et al [47] reported significant variation in the chemical profile of wild and domesticated purslane plants, some with positive (e.g., higher vitamin K and E and lower content of oxalic acid in cultivated plants) and others with negative signs (e.g., lower content of total polyphenols in cultivated plants).…”

Sprouts and Microgreens: Trends, Opportunities, and Horizons for Novel Research

“…This section, however, is focused on opportunities and research challenges offered by species underexplored for sprouting like voluntary species, wild relatives, ancestors, and neglected/local accessions of cultivated species, and fruit tree species. All of these would be very interesting for sprouting because they are supposed to have a higher phytochemical content compared to cultivated species [32][33][34].…”