It is, for Selleck Veliparib example, one of the main sources of chicoric and caffeoylmalic acid in the Central European diet ( Clifford, 2000). The major phenolic compounds in red leaf lettuce are quercetin-3-O-glucoside, quercetin-3-O-(6″-O-malonyl)-glucoside,

quercetin-3-O-glucuronide, luteolin-7-O-glucuronide and cyanidin 3-O-(6″-O-malonyl)-glucoside as well as di-O-caffeoyl tartaric acid (chicoric acid), 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid (chlorogenic acid) and O-caffeoylmalic acid ( Llorach et al., 2008). Several of these substances have been ascribed antioxidative and antiatherogenic effects as well as inhibitive effects on lipid peroxidation and cyclooxigenase enzymes ( Cartea et al., 2011). In the cool seasons in Central Europe, lettuce is usually cultivated in greenhouses which

tend to consume large amounts of energy – mostly derived from fossil fuels. Due to economic and ecological reasons, strategies to improve greenhouse CO2-balances are currently being developed. One approach to save energy for heating is to cultivate crops at lower temperatures. This influences plants in manifold ways: Decreasing temperature generally slows down metabolic processes. With lettuce, this results for example in delayed growth, hence postponed development of marketable lettuce heads (Wurr, Fellows, & Phelps, Everolimus clinical trial 1996), while it is also very likely to influence quality

parameters like secondary metabolites (Treutter, 2010). Concerning flavonoids, there are indications that biosynthesis increases with lower temperatures (Harbaum-Piayda et al., 2010, Havaux and Kloppstech, 2001 and Neugart et al., 2012). However, there are only few studies on the effect of temperature on the phenolic compounds in lettuce (Boo et al., 2011, Gazula et al., 2005 and Oh et al., 2009). In plants, the general deceleration of metabolic processes at low temperature affects for example the Calvin cycle enzymes of the light-independent part of photosynthesis (Havaux & Kloppstech, 2001). Thus, the intercepted light may eventually become over-excessive and lead to the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by leakage of energy and/or electrons to molecular oxygen (Havaux & Kloppstech, selleck screening library 2001). ROS have the potential to destroy thylakoid membranes (the site of the light-dependent photosynthetic reactions), damage DNA, and denature proteins (Gould, Neill, & Vogelmann, 2002). The detrimental effects of low temperature-induced oxidative damage are enforced by the fact that also enzymatic repair processes are slowed down. However, ROS themselves can be perceived by plants. They can act as messenger molecules, eventually influencing gene expression and conveying acclimation to an altered environment (Edreva, 2005 and Gill and Tuteja, 2010).