Phenolic compounds in Cichorium endivia vegetables

Polyphenols are biologically active compounds widely distributed in the plant kingdom and so present in plant-derived foods and intrinsic components of human diets. They have been shown to possess a range of biological activities that are consistent with them contributing to the protection afforded by a diet rich in fruit and vegetables against degenerative diseases1-2. In particular, caffeic acid derivatives act as anti-inflammatory3, skin photo damage protectors and recently chicoric acid showed anti HIV-1 activity4-5. The levels and chemical forms of these compounds vary markedly depending on the plant source. It is known that endive is a rich source of hydroxycinnamic acids and flavonols6-8, in particular kaempferol derivatives, but until now, the qualitative evaluation of flavonoids and phenolic acids in different commercial endive samples, commonly used as food, is far to be complete. In this work we analyzed the methanolic extract of different commercial endive varieties largely consumed in Italian diet. The investigation was carried out using HPLC-DAD-ESI-MSn. The obtained results indicated the presence of different mono- and di-caffeoylquinic acid isomers, of cis-caftaric acid, and of different flavonol conjugates (kaempferol and quercetin derivatives)