Sustainable diets and biodiversity

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tive antioxidant molecules of this vegetable:β-

carotene (60–80%),α-carotene (10–40%), lutein (1–

5%) and the other minor carotenoids (0.1–1%)( 42 ).

α-carotene and β-carotene levels decreased after

boiling: the percentages of decreasing were found

to be 0.36% and 0.31% forα-carotene and forβ-

carotene respectively. In these agricultural ecotypes

α-carotene and β-carotene values are higher than

those shown in literature data (17). In addition β-

carotene values were higher thanα-carotene for

both raw and cooked carrots (43).

Chicory represents a main source of micronutrients:

in fact, it easily grows year-round, due to its ability to

resist to high temperatures. It should be an interest-

ing and cheap source of antioxidant phenolic extracts.

The chicory (from Calabria) FRAP value observed

was higher 20.36 mmolkg-1 (SD 0.08), than the

value 6.72 mmolkg-1 reported in literature and the

observed value in chicory from Lazio (4.43 and 9.2 1

mmolkg-1 respectively for wild and cultivated

chicory): this could suggest a better benefit power

for the human health. The results obtained indicate

that chicory could be a remarkable source of anti-

oxidants (44). The main representative compound of

chicory was found to be the chlorogenic acid 24. 1

mg kg-1 (SD 2.31). To improve the quality of chicory

ecotypes, the phenolic content and composition of

different chicory varieties have been previously in-

vestigated considering the influence of variety, pro-

cessing and storage on this composition (45). In

addition differences between the way of cooking

were observed in chicory from Lazio (Figure 1):

lutein andβ-carotene values were significant higher

in pan-fried product than fresh product (P<0.0 2

and P<0.05 respectively) for cultivated chicory,

while significantly higher values of β-carotene were

observed in boiled wild chicory than wild fresh

(P<0.05) and lutein was significantly higher in wild

fresh than wild pan-fried chicory (P<0.02). This

could be due to the greater extractability of

carotenoids after cooking, while their their low con-

tribution to total antioxidant capacity is enhanced by

higher values of TAC in both wild and cultivated

fresh chicory.

In potatoes, a slight increase in the FRAP values

was observed after cooking. The percentage range

of increasing was found to be 41–70 percent. Indeed

the increase of reducing power may be correlated

to release of glucosydes from food matrix after

cooking (Table 3). After cooking, potato varieties dif-

fer in antioxidant values from each other, while anti-

oxidant levels do not change in fresh potatoes. The

very low values of antioxidant activity were found in

watery vegetables such as potato, marrow and cu-

cumber. In addition, the chemical components of

the potato and interactions occurring during cook-

ing, influenced the quality of potatoes and the tex-

ture of the cooked tubers (46). No remarkable

differences were found in antioxidant activity be-

tween the several varieties of potatoes.

Bioactivity test

Regarding potential bioactivities, the chicory ex-

tracts seem to cause a high cytotoxicity in human

epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma cells (caco-2)

by reducing cell viability to values lower than 1 0

percent. The results indicate that the polyphenolic

extract of wild chicory possesses a marked cytotox-

icity compared to cultivated chicory reducing cell vi-

ability lower than 10 percent using 50 ml/l of the

extract (Figure 2).

Conclusion

Our findings show that local products have a distinc-

tive and unique nutritional value. Their antioxidant

Figure 1. Effect of cultivated and wild chicory extracts
on CaCo-2 viability.

cultivated chicory

wild chicorywild chicory

()

cell viability

(%

)

0 0,5 1 5 10 50 100

ml/l

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0