## 2 Results and Discussion
### Phenolic Acids and Polypphenols
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l l l l l l} \hline \multirow{3}{*}{**Compound**} & \multirow{3}{*}{**_I. paraguariensis_} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{_I. aquifolium_} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{_I. meserveae_} \\ \cline{3-9}  & & **Aurea** & **Silver** & **Handsworth** & **Blue** & **Blue** & **Blue Girl** & **Blue Princess** \\ \cline{3-9}  & & **Marginata** & **Queen** & **New Silver** & **Prince** & **Blue Girl** & **White Princess** \\ \cline{3-9}  & & **Concentration (mg g\({}^{-1}\)) \({}^{1}\) d.w.** & & & & & & \\ \hline Citric acid & 2.17 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 1.44 \({}^{\text{bc}}\) & 1.49 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 1.30 \({}^{\text{bc}}\) & 1.28 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 1.04 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 1.30 \({}^{\text{bc}}\) \\ Malic acid & 1.26 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 2.97 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 2.03 \({}^{\text{ac}}\) & 2.03 \({}^{\text{ac}}\) & 0.77 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 0.51 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 1.93 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ Quinic acid & 1.76 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 2.82 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 4.94 \({}^{\text{e}}\) & 2.91 \({}^{\text{bc}}\) & 3.60 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 1.81 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 3.51 \({}^{\text{cd}}\) \\ \hline Caffeic acid & 0.78 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 0.99 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 1.11 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 1.16 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 0.81 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 0.72 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 0.77 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ Ferulic acid & 0.98 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 0.56 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 0.66 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 0.58 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 0.28 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 0.17 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 0.84 \({}^{\text{b}}\) \\ \hline Chlorogenic acid & \multirow{2}{*}{13.48 \({}^{\text{a}}\) (3-O-Caffeoylquinic acid)} & \multirow{2}{*}{28.02 \({}^{\text{b}}\)} & \multirow{2}{*}{26.75 \({}^{\text{b}}\)} & \multirow{2}{*}{20.97 \({}^{\text{d}}\)} & \multirow{2}{*}{17.53 \({}^{\text{c}}\)} & \multirow{2}{*}{18.53 \({}^{\text{c}}\)} & \multirow{2}{*}{38.96 \({}^{\text{e}}\)} \\ Cryptochlorogenic acid & & & & & & & \\ (4-O-Caffeoylquinic acid) & & & & & & & \\ Neochlorogenic acid & & & & & & & \\ (5-O-Caffeoylquinic acid) & & & & & & & & \\ \hline
3,5-Di-O-caffeoylquinic acid & 18.11 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 3.90 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 3.71 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 5.97 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 2.33 \({}^{\text{e}}\) & 1.32 \({}^{\text{f}}\) & 7.38 \({}^{\text{b}}\) \\
4,5-Di-O-caffeoylquinic acid & 6.11 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 1.66 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 1.79 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 1.97 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 0.94 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 0.61 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 3.37 \({}^{\text{b}}\) \\ \hline Rutin & 4.10 \({}^{\text{2,a}}\) & 8.30 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 11.80 \({}^{\text{f}}\) & 6.08 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 5.10 \({}^{\text{ab}}\) & 6.05 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 9.61 \({}^{\text{d}}\) \\ Quercetin & 1.51 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 1.49 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 1.28 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 1.15 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 1.12 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 1.69 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 1.59 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ \hline \end{tabular}  
\({}^{1}\) Quantification achieved in comparison with a pure standard and calibration curves. \({}^{2}\) Values are mean; values followed by the same letter within a row are not significantly different (\(p>0.05\), [PERSON]’s test).  
\end{table} 
Table 3: Simple organic acids, phenolic acids, and polyphenols in the leaves of _I.paraguariensis_ and European cultivars of _I. aquifolium_ and _I. meserveae_. PCA of polyphenols and phenolic acids was carried out, as shown in Figure 6. PC1 and PC2 explain ca. 76% of the variation; therefore, the data were divided into three clusters on the graph. The right cluster, located on the positive side of PC1, contains three varieties of _I. meserveae_, while the left cluster on the negative side includes _I. aquifolium_ and the reference samples. On the other hand, _I. paraguariensis_ is the outlier, with its PC2 score (about 4) being significantly higher than the others.