## 1 Introduction  
Globe artichoke (_Cynara cardunculus_ var. _scolymus_) is an herbaceous plant taxonomically included in a small genus [1] of the family _Asteraceae_[2, 3]. _Cynara_ species are originally from the Mediterranean region [4], and three Mediterranean countries (Italy, 367 kTon; Egypt 309 kTon and Spain, 197 kTon) generate over 50% of the world's production [5]. The production and intake of globe artichoke is increasing in South America [6]; in this sense, nowadays, almost 15% of the total world's production is concentrated in Peru and Argentina [5]. Globe artichoke presents a large capitula or head (immature flower) with edible bracts and receptacle, which represents 30-40% of the weight of the whole plant [4]. During artichoke processing to produce canned or frozen artichokes, non-edible parts with non-commercial use have traditionally been used as livestock feed [7]. Globe artichoke is a rich source of bio-compounds, mainly inulin and phenolic compounds [4]. Artichoke plants accumulate inulin as major reserve of carbohydrates, reaching up to 15% of the flowering part [2, 4]. Inulin is a polysaccharide consisting of a chain of \(\beta\)(2-1) linear fructose molecules with a terminal glucose molecule [2, 8] and shows water solubility strongly dependent on temperature [8]. Inulin improves health since its consumption stimulates the growth and activity of desired bacteria in the colon; it has positive effects on blood glucose attenuation, lipid homeostasis, mineral bioavailability and immunomodidation [1; 9]. It has been found that inulin can replace sugar and fat in food products, with the advantage of exhibiting low caloric value [4; 10]. Additionally, inulin shows characteristic rheological properties: it increases viscosity, provides spreadability and improves texture [11; 12]. Hence, due to its health benefits and rheological properties, inulin can be used in the formulation of different foods, such as yogurts, salad dressings, mousses, chocolates and bread [10]. The extraction of inulin from solid matrices is favored by the use of water as an extracting solvent, and different temperatures and extracting times have been studied [11; 12; 13; 14]. Phenolic compounds are secondary metabolites that protect the plant against biotic and abiotic stress [15; 16]. The phenolic compounds included in the globe aritchoke are mainly chlorogenic acid, cynarin, apigenin-7-O-glucoside, luteolin, cynaroside, scolymoside, phenolic acids, mono- and dicaffeoylquinic acids and flavonoids [6; 17; 18; 19]. The consumption of foods rich in polyphenols has proven health benefits, such as anti-allergenic, anti-artherogenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, antioxidant, anti-thrombotic, cardio-protective and vasodilatory effects [16; 20]. For the solid-liquid extraction of polyphenols, several organic solvents and their mixtures with water have been used [21; 22]. Due to the diverse chemical structures of polyphenics, ranging from simple and free to conjugated and polymerized forms (lipophilic), which might consequently affect their solubility behavior, Sulaiman and co-authors stated that there is no specific or appropriate solvent recommended for the optimal extraction and recovery of total phenolic content from fresh sample matrices [23]. In spite of this, alcoholic solvents have been commonly employed to extract phenolics from natural sources: they give quite high yields of total extracts even though they are not highly selective for phenols. In particular, mixtures of alcohols and water have been revealed to be more efficient in extracting phenolic constituents than the corresponding mono-component solvent system [24]. The simultaneous extraction of inulin and polyphenols from aritchoke wastes will lead to different results depending on the extracting agent. In this sense, it is expected that the use of water will lead to high inulin extraction yields but also some polyphenols in the extract; on the other hand, the use of water-ethanol mixtures will lead to high polyphenol extraction rates and moderate inulin extraction.