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

Abstract

A B S T R A C TAs 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.

Physicochemical, nutritional, bioactive compounds and fatty acid profiling of Pumpkin flower (Cucurbita maxima), as a potential functional food

“…candida alba bunch flower respectively in Brazil [31]. The presence of fat content was lower than the other edible flowers in case of pumpkin flower [32]. A variety of pumpkin flower from Mexico had a moisture content of 93.2%, crude protein, fibre and ash content of 219, 105, 159 g/kg sample.…”

Edible Flowers, Old Tradition or New Gastronomic Trend: A First Look at Consumption in Portugal versus Costa Rica

“…Decoration, novelty, taste and aroma were cited as the most relevant reasons to use EF, while nutrition and antioxidant activity have the lowest importance. Nevertheless, the nutritional importance of many different EF has been established, as well as the value associated with some of the bioactive compounds that they contain that bear biological activities beneficial for human health-for example, the high antioxidant activity provided by phenolic compounds [6,33,34]. The reasons why participants consumed EF were varied and included their ability to decorate dishes or other food preparations (66%), their exquisite taste (62%), the perception of novelty associated with their utilization (62%), their aroma and bouquet (57%), their bioactive compounds that bear antioxidant activity (37%), their nutritional value, most especially regarding micronutrients lime vitamins and minerals (26%), among others (21%).…”

The Unexplored Potential of Edible Flowers Lipids

“…In case of dried samples, flowers are initially subjected to drying (e.g., air and freeze-drying), followed by grinding, milling, or homogenization to reduce sample particle size and enhance the extraction efficiency. Various solvents are commonly used in the Soxhlet extraction, such as petroleum ether [22,30,52,57] and hexane [51], whereas in maceration, a mixture of solvents is mainly used, such as chloroform-methanol [21,28,55]. However, in the future, new extraction technologies may be tested in edible flowers to improve extraction time, oil yield, and reduce the amount of solvent or even use green solvents.…”