Comparison of the phenolics profiles of forced and unforced chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) cultivars

Modern and sustainable production of safe and healthy high quality vegetables for human consumption is nowadays the goal of many producers. Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) has become an important crop used as food in many countries over the past decade. In this work field and glasshouse trials were conducted to compare phenolic profiles of hydroponically forced leaves and leaves produced as common agronomic practice of five chicory cultivars. Total phenolic content of hydroponically forced samples ranged from 60 to 140 mg/100 g fresh weight, and those of unforced grown leaves varied between 117 and 386 mg/100 g fresh weight. Red cultivar ‘Treviso’ shows the highest phenolic content for both, unforced and forced leaves extracts. In the unforced leaves a total of 33 and in those of forced a total of 44 compounds (peaks) were used for the discrimination study.