Nutritional and chemical characterization of edible petals and corresponding infusions: Valorization as new food ingredients

Edible flowers provide new colours, textures and vibrancy to any dish, and apart from the glam factor, they can constitute new sources of bioactive compounds. In the present work, the edible petals and infusions of dahlia, rose, calendula and centaurea, were characterized regarding their nutritional value and composition in terms of hydrophilic and lipophilic compounds. Carbohydrates were the most abundant macronutrients, followed by proteins and ash. Fructose, glucose and sucrose were identified in all the petals and infusions. Rose petals and calendula infusions gave the highest content of organic acids, mainly due to the presence of malic and quinic acids, respectively. Polyunsaturated fatty acids predominated over saturated fatty acids, mainly due to the contribution of linoleic acid. Calendula presented the highest content in tocopherols, with alpha-tocopherol as the most abundant. These results highlight the interest of edible petals as and in new food products, representing rich sources of bioactive nutrients. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.