Phenolic compounds of cultivated chicory (Cichorium intybus L.)

Common chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) is widely known in traditional medicine of many countries, but in official medicine its use is limited as a part of biologically active additives. Despite the available information about pharmacological activity of leaf extracts, their use as a medicinal herbal raw material is almost not considered. The purpose of the work is to study the accumulation dynamics of phenolic compounds (PC) in the leaves of cultivated chicory to optimize the time of harvesting the above-ground mass. The article presents data on the accumulation dynamics of PC in the leaves of two varieties of cultivated chicory, and also compares the obtained data with similars of wild-growing chicory. Results. It was noted that the content of phenolic compounds in the leaves of cultivated chicory is 1,5-2 times higher in comparison with the raw materials of wild plants. The studied varieties differ in the content of PC by 8% in average. It has been established that the main phenolic compounds in the leaves of cultivated chicory are chicoric, chlorogenic and cafftaric acids; their total content in the obtained extracts is 55 %. It was noted that the period of maximum accumulation of PC in leaves falls on the end of september - beginning of october. The established chemical composition, a higher content of phenolic compounds compared to wild plants, as well as the coincidence of the maximum accumulation of PC in the leaves with the approximate date of harvesting chicory roots allows us to consider its cultivation in culture as a promising direction with the aim of the integrated use of the obtained raw materials for both food and pharmaceutical industry.