Nutritional and Phytochemical Composition of Mediterranean Wild Vegetables after Culinary Treatment

Abstract

Studies are scarce on the nutritional and phytochemical composition of wild edible Mediterranean plants after culinary processing. This work provides the nutritional composition after culinary treatment (including dietary fiber and mineral composition) and bioactive compounds (folates, vitamin C and organic acids) of wild Rumex pulcher L., Silene vulgaris (Moench) Garcke. leaves, and wild Asparagus acutifolius L., Bryonia dioica Jacq., Humulus lupulus L., Tamus communis L. young shoots. Shoots better preserved their nutrients than leaves, due to their different tissue structure. Fresh and cooked wild greens present high dietary fiber values, and remained at remarkable levels after boiling. Na, K, Mg and Zn were lost in about 50% due to culinary processing, while Ca, Cu, Fe and Mn were more stable. Boiled leaves of S. vulgaris remained as a good Mn source. A portion of 100 g of most of the cooked analyzed species could cover a relevant percentage of the daily requirement of folates (R. pulcher and A. acutifolius providing more than 80%) and vitamin C (T. communis and A. acutifolius providing more than 35%).

Quality Evaluation of Wild and Cultivated Asparagus: A Comparison between Raw and Steamed Spears

“…The asparagus spears from wild (Asparagus acutifolius L.) and cultivated (Asparagus officinalis L.) species are highly appreciated for their organoleptic and nutritional characteristics. This plant has a low caloric content (approximately 22-35 kcal 100 g −1 ) [1], but it is very rich in bioactive compounds, with strong antioxidant properties [2,3], mainly represented by phenols, sterols, saponins, oligosaccharides, carotenoids, sulfurated acids, essential amino acids [4,5], fibers [6], minerals, and vitamins [1]. In particular, quercetin-3-rutinoside (rutin) has been reported as the most representative phenol in asparagus spears [7][8][9].…”

“…Even cooked asparagus retains its nutrients well. In wild asparagus, Garcia-Herrera et al [1] report that the loss of minerals (34-44%) is lower than that of other leafy vegetables (47-65%) and that, even after being boiled, A. acutifolius is an excellent source of some vitamins. An increase in antioxidant activity was also observed with some cooking methods [25,26].…”

Five undervalued edible species inherent to autumn-winter season: nutritional composition, bioactive constituents and volatiles profile

“…Another important aspect provided by the undervalued species of edible leaf is the taste and smell of gastronomic preparations. This makes edible leaf a good material for culinary innovation ( García-Herrera et al, 2020 ). In addition, research on functional ingredients such as vitamins, antioxidants, fatty acids, fiber, and other supposedly therapeutic substances is helping to the development of the functional food market, that becoming the star up of nutrition ( Rodríguez, Perea & Anta, 2015 ).…”

Phytochemical Characterization and Bioactivity of Asparagus acutifolius: A Focus on Antioxidant, Cytotoxic, Lipase Inhibitory and Antimicrobial Activities

“…It is generally sold in local markets at relatively high prices and used in typical restaurant dishes. From the nutritional point of view, A. acutifolius spear, which is the edible part of the plant, is rich in antioxidant phenolics, Vitamin C, folates, ascorbic acid and dietary fiber [ 4 ]. Among phenolics, the major compounds found are Quercitin-3- O -rutinoside and Isorhamnetin-3- O -rutinoside and to a lesser extend Kaempherol-3- O -rutinoside [ 5 ].…”