The influence of electron beam radiation in the nutritional value, chemical composition and bioactivities of edible flowers of Bauhinia variegata L. var. candida alba Buch.-Ham from Brazil

As edible flowers are highly perishable, irradiation technology can be applied to increase their shelf life, as also for phytosanitary purposes. Herein, flowers of Bauhinia variegata L. var. candida alba Buch.- Ham were submitted to electron beam irradiation at the doses of 0.5, 0.8 and 1 kGy, to study the effects in the nutritional and chemical profiles, and also in antioxidant, cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory activities. The petals of white flowers revealed interesting bioactive properties being kaempferol derivatives the most abundant compounds, especially kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside. The applied irradiation doses did not highly affect the nutritional profile. No changes were produced in cytotoxicity, but the anti-inflammatory activity slightly decreased. However, the antioxidant activity was increased, especially in the dose of 0.5 kGy, in agreement with the higher content in phenolic compounds found at this dose.