NMR metabolic profiling to characterise nutritional properties of the Apulian "puntarelle" (Cichorium intybus subgroup Catalogna)

Chicory (C. intybus L.) of the Catalogna group produces tender stems (located in the middle of the leaf rosette) which are exquisite and nutritious food1 and traditionally eaten as raw ("puntarelle") or cooked products in Lazio and Puglia, respectively. The CISIA project, sustained by governmental and SMEs, falls in a context of valorisation of "made in Italy" produce and aims at assessing the identity and traceability of typical varieties and at enhancing their nutritive and economic value by holistic approaches2. Thirty seven hydro-soluble metabolites (amino acids, organic acids, sugars, polyols, phenols) from stems of two Apulian genotypes ('Galatina' and 'Molfettese') were monitored by NMR3 at harvesting (ca 85 days after sowing in a winter cycle). Overall, the 'Molfettese' stems showed a higher content of alanine, asparagine, glutamine, ?-aminobutirric acid, fumaric acid, fructose and glucose than those of 'Galatina'. On the contrary, the latter contained higher amounts of aspartic acid and inulin, which is an important prebiotic sugar stored by several Asteraceae plants. Interestingly, both varieties produced abundant amounts of scyllo-inositol, which has beneficial effects for memory deficits. Finally, statistical analyses applied to the NMR profiles significantly discriminated the two genotypes.