Grazina, LilianaBatista, AndreiaAmaral, Joana S.Costa, JoanaMafra, Isabel2021-08-312021-08-312022Grazina, Liliana; Batista, Andreia; Amaral, Joana S.; Costa, Joana; Mafra, Isabel (2022). Botanical authentication of globe artichoke-containing foods: Differentiation of Cynara scolymus by a novel HRM approach. Food Chemistry. ISSN 0308-8146. 366, p. 1-90308-8146http://hdl.handle.net/10198/23840Cynara scolymus L., known as globe artichoke, is a medicinal plant widely used in plant food supplements (PFS) and herbal infusions due to its beneficial health properties. The high demand for artichoke-containing products can lead to adulteration practices. In this work, a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system coupled to high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis was proposed to differentiate C. scolymus from other Cynara species. Hence, a Cynara-specific real-time PCR assay was successfully developed with high analytical performance, achieving a sensitivity of 0.4 pg of globe artichoke DNA. HRM analysis enabled the discrimination of C. scolymus, with a high level of confidence (>98%), corroborating sequencing data. Application results to artichokecontaining PFS and mixed herbal infusions allowed confirming the presence of C. scolymus in 38% of the samples, suggesting the substitution/mislabelling of globe artichoke in 2 samples and the need for further efforts to increase DNA amplifiability of PFS.engGlobe artichokePlant food supplementsAuthenticityReal-time PCRHigh-resolution melting analysisjournal article10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.130621