Chemical composition and in vitro biological activities of cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L. var. altilis DC.) seeds as influenced by viability: Chemical prospection and bioactivity of cardoon seeds

Cardoon is a multi-purpose crop for several industries. In this study, cardoon seeds were separated according to the viability and characterized for their chemical composition and bioactivities. Viable seeds contained higher levels of α-tocopherol (6.7 mg/100 g), lipids (23.11 g/100 g, manly oleic and linoleic acids), and free sugars (5.4 g/100 g) than the unviable ones. The hydroethanolic extract of viable seeds presented a higher concentration of phenolic compounds, namely 5-O-caffeoylquinic (8.0 mg/g) and 3,5-O-dicaffeoylquinic (43.9 mg/ g) acids, and greater in vitro antioxidant activity. Both extracts showed antibacterial properties, but the best results were achieved with unviable seeds. The extracts had similar antifungal activity but did not reveal antiinflammatory capacity or cytotoxicity to the tested cell lines. Therefore, while viable seeds contained antioxidant phytochemicals and an energy and carbon source for germination, unavailable seeds stood out for their potential to be used in the development of bio-based antibacterial ingredients.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support by national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020). National funding by FCT, through the institutional scientific employment program-contract with M.I. Dias, J. Pinela and L. Barros. To FCT for the PhD grant (SFRH/BD/ 146614/2019) of F. Mandim. The authors are also grateful to FEDERInterreg España-Portugal programme for financial support through the project 0377_Iberphenol_6_E, to the project TRANSCoLAB (0612_TRANS_CO_LAB_2_P), and to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia for Grant No. 173032. The authors are grateful to Manuela Antunes from Cynatura for the seed recollection.