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

Lucrezia Sergio, Francesca Boari, Donato Di Venere, Maria Gonnella, Vito Cantore and Massimiliano Renna
Additional contact information
Lucrezia Sergio: CNR-Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA), Via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy
Francesca Boari: CNR-Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA), Via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy
Donato Di Venere: CNR-Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA), Via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy
Maria Gonnella: CNR-Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA), Via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy
Vito Cantore: CNR-Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA), Via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy
Massimiliano Renna: CNR-Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA), Via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-14

Abstract: Asparagus is highly appreciated for its organoleptic and nutritional characteristics and wild genotypes are valuable components of traditional dishes. In this study, the physical and chemical traits of wild (green and violet) and cultivated asparagus (‘Grande’, ‘Purple Passion’, and ‘Bianco di Bassano del Grappa’), both raw and steamed, were evaluated. Steaming did not affect the total phenols content with the exception of wild green (+49%) and ‘Grande’ (−31%). Only for wild violet asparagus steaming increased the total antioxidant activity (+46%). Chlorogenic acid and chicoric acid were found only in wild asparagus, while rutin was generally higher in colored cultivated asparagus than wild ones. The highest content of isorhamnetin-3-rutinoside was found in wild violet asparagus while only traces of this compound were detected in the cultivated ones. Steaming influenced the content of both chlorophylls and carotenoids in asparagus, also resulting in changes in the color parameters in cooked spears. Overall, the sugar content in wild asparagus was lower than in the cultivated ones and steaming had a low impact on this chemical trait. Principal component analysis highlighted the most evident separation between wild asparagus and cultivated ones. These results indicate that wild asparagus can be considered a nutritious and refined food, and provide specific information required for cooking process strategies in the agri-food industrial sector.

Keywords: Asparagus acutifolius; Asparagus officinalis; antioxidant activity; polyphenols; sugars; chlorophylls; carotenoid; color parameters; steam cooking; principal component analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/12/1213/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/12/1213/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:11:y:2021:i:12:p:1213-:d:693436

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().