Globe Artichoke (Cynara cardunculus): Characterisation from farm to plate

Andrew R Tilley

doi:10.60867/00000072

The Australian globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus) industry is dominated by a small number of cultivars, mainly Green Globe, which are sold into local fresh markets. The Australian artichoke industry may benefit from the development of new cultivars with superior sensory and nutritional characteristics but also suitability for processing into value-add products. Artichokes are an excellent source of nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and phenolics, such as chlorogenic acid and dicaffeoylquinic acids, and the dietary fibre inulin, which is a type of fructan, but they are labour-intensive to prepare. This makes them ideally suited to value-add processing to increase consumption by reducing consumer preparation. However, artichokes’ high concentration of phenolics make them highly susceptible to polyphenol oxidase-mediated browning during processing. The role of polyphenol oxidase in browning has been extensively investigated but how specific phenolic compounds contribute to browning remains poorly understood. This research aimed to determine if consumers in Australia can differentiate artichoke lines based on their sensory attributes; identify artichoke lines that have a high nutritional content but low browning susceptibility and how environmental factors affect these characteristics; elucidate the role of specific phenolics in artichoke browning; and investigate the application of plasma activated water (PAW) as a novel anti-browning treatment for artichokes. Artichokes used in this research exhibited a high degree of morphological variation and were sourced from Mt Lindesay farm, located in Denmark, Western Australia, which describes itself as an agroecological farm that grows artichokes with limited inputs. The edible portion, the heart, from each artichoke line was characterised for morphology, sensory attributes, phenolic composition, fructan concentration and inulin profile as well as browning susceptibility. Research findings showed artichoke line sensory characteristics did not differ greatly, but that a potentially negative bitter flavour could be identified. One artichoke line was more bitter than the green globe cultivar control, demonstrating artichokes lines could be selected or eliminated based on their sensory attributes depending on if the attributes are positive or negative. Total phenolic, fructan and inulin concentrations varied significantly between artichoke lines. Early season artichoke inflorescences were larger with a comparably smaller, more yellow edible portion or heart that had a higher phenolic content. Late season artichoke inflorescences were smaller with a comparably larger edible portion or heart which had more inulin and produced less wastage during preparation. Mean daily solar radiation exposure was associated with increased inulin and decreased total phenolic content. 1,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid was identified as a key phenolic that contributes to browning susceptibility. Subsequent in vitro experiments provided supporting evidence, highlighting the potential to modulate browning susceptibility using the phenolic profile. Treatment with plasma-activated water has the potential to inhibit browning without impacting the products sensory properties. Plasma-activated water immersion treatment during processing of artichoke was compared to the untreated control, as well as deionised water and ascorbic acid treatments. All immersion treatments produced similar reductions in browning suggesting the primary mode of action is the physical removal of polyphenol oxidase enzyme and substrate from the cut surface by the immersion treatment. Plasma-activated water may be an effective substitute for ascorbic acid treatment for minimising browning of artichokes. This research developed techniques to assess and compare the quality attributes of artichoke lines and identified significant variability in these characteristics. The results identified artichoke lines with desirable attributes for specific applications and will support development of new varieties in the future.

Globe Artichoke (Cynara cardunculus): Characterisation from farm to plate

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