Living Mulch as Sustainable Tool to Improve Leaf Biomass and Phytochemical Yield of Cynara cardunculus var. altilis

Abstract

Living mulch (LM) provides many beneficial agro-ecological services by reducing soil evaporation, conserving moisture, controlling soil temperature, reducing weed growth, increasing organic matter and nutrient availability, and improving microbial activities. Legumes, commonly used as living mulches, can affect the yield and quality of main crops. We hypothesized that Egyptian clover co-cultivated with Cynara cardunculus var. altilis (cultivated cardoon) can positively affect both leaf biomass and phytochemical yield. The study was performed on two growing seasons of field experiments to evaluate the potential variation in biomass and phytochemical yields of cardoon leaves. In addition, the leaves were collected at 90, 120, and 150 days after transplanting to evaluate the possible effect of the harvest time. LM improved the fresh and air-dried leaves biomass yields, total phenolic, and dry matter content, while it had no effect on the content of crude fibre, total sugars, L-ascorbic acid, total chlorophylls, and antioxidant activity. Except for luteolin-7-O-glucoside content, no negative effect of LM was observed on the polyphenol profile. Behind the cultivation system, the parameters were also affected by both the harvest time and growing season. According to our data, the proposed intercropping of cultivated cardoon with LM could represent an innovative cultivation system to increase both leaf biomass and the health-promoting compounds of cultivated cardoon leaves by sustainable soil management.

Polyphenol Profile, Antioxidant Activity and Yield of Cynara cardunculus altilis in Response to Nitrogen Fertilisation

“…Water scarcity and the accompanying high air temperatures in 2019, higher than perennial averages by 1.9 • C, probably reduced the availability of nutrients in the soil (Tables 1 and 2). There is little information in the available literature on the effect of meteorological trends on phenolic content in humid temperate climates, where vegetation length and herb yield can be highly variable depending on atmospheric factors [4]. In 2018, the content of TF and TP were, respectively, 7-9%, higher than in 2019.…”

“…Cardoons have long been cultivated in warm climate countries, where the leaves are eaten as a vegetable [2]. In Central Europe, the cultivated cardoon is primarily a valuable herbaceous plant for pharmaceutical raw materials [3,4]. Cardoon is considered a rich source of health-promoting compounds such as polyphenols, inulin, vitamins, and minerals [5][6][7].…”

Cynaropicrin- and chlorogenic acid-rich extracts easily prepared from Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus: Antioxidant and antigenotoxic properties

“…According to the literature, phenolic compounds are the main constituents extracted with polar solvents, while sesquiterpenes are mainly extracted with non-polar solvents (Gálvez et al, 2005). Moreover, the chemical composition of artichoke extracts used is highly variable as it depends on the harvest time, type of plant, type of extraction and drying methods (Alonso et al, 2006;Pandino et al, 2017), storage, plant age (Lutz et al, 2011), agricultural practices (Lombardo et al, 2015;Sałata et al, 2023) and pre-harvest factors (reviewed by Lombardo et al, 2018) among others, which consequently affect its biological properties.…”