Hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives occurring in Cichorium endivia vegetables

Polyphenols are biologically active compounds found in plants and present in plant-derived foods that are intrinsic components of human diets. Among these, hydorxycinnamic acids are widely distributed in the plant kingdom (seeds, fruits, tubers, and the herbaceous parts of many vegetable species), but the levels and chemical forms vary markedly depending on the plant source. Hydroxycinnamic acids occur naturally in combination with other compounds, usually in the form of esters. These compounds can act as antioxidants because they act as free radical scavengers, singlet oxygen quencers, or metal chelators (1). These actions make plant foods of particular importance in our diet because it has been demonstrated that their consumption protects living organisms from oxidative damage, resulting in the prevention of chronic pathologies (2). So to know hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives edible vegetable composition results of great interest. In this work we analyzed the methanolic extract of two endive varieties, i.e. Cichorium endivia var. crispum and Cichorium endivia var. latifolium largely consumed in Italian diet. The investigation was carried out using HPLC/DAD/MS. The obtained results indicated that 5-caffeoylquinic acid, 5-feruloylquinc acid, and 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid are present in both the vegetables, while 3,5-dicaffeoylquinc acid is present only in Cichorium endivia var. crispum, and 3-caffoylquinc acid and cis-caftaric acid only in Cichorium endivia var. latifolium.