VARIABILITY OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS IN LEEK (ALLIUM PORRUM L.)

Leek (Allium porrum L.), a commonly grown vegetable widely used in the food industry, has gained increased interest in recent years in connection with its content of bioactive substances. Therefore, this study aimed to determine and evaluate the influence of cultivar and morphological part on the total content of polyphenols, sulfur compounds, and the antioxidant activity in the monitored morphological parts of leek (Allium porrum L.). The total polyphenol content (TPC) in the white part of analyzed leek cultivars ranged from 446.30 to 1580.55 mg GAE.kg(-1 )DM. TPC in the green part of analyzed leek cultivars ranged from 748.09 to 2172.78 mg GAE.kg(-1 )DM. TPC in the leaves of analyzed leek cultivars ranged from 2301.24 to 5477.73 mg GAE.kg(-1 )DM. The antioxidant activity (AA) in the white part of analyzed leek cultivars ranged from 3.70 to 14.23 mmol TE.kg(-1) DM. AA in the green part of analyzed leek cultivars ranged from 6.89 to 14.38 mmol TE.kg(-1) DM. AA in leaves of analyzed leek cultivars ranged from 30.85 to 106.92 mmol TE.kg(-1) DM. The total sulfur content (TSC) in the white part of analyzed leek cultivars ranged from 0.25 to 0.52 %. TSC in the green part of analyzed leek cultivars ranged from 0.27 to 0.52 %. TSC in the leaves of analyzed leek cultivars ranged from 0.31 to 0.59 %. Based on the analysis of variance, we can state that statistically higher (p< 0.05) TPC, AA, and TSC were determined in the leaves of the leek. Statistically higher (p< 0.05) TPC, AA, and TSC in all morphological parts were determined in the cultivar De Carentan. The results confirmed the variability of bioactive substances and antioxidant activity in the individual monitored cultivars, but also in the monitored morphological parts of the leek.