Edible flowers on the plate are becoming more common, but what you may not know is that they can be much more than mere decoration.
They offer significant health benefits due to their nutritional properties. By incorporating them into your diet, you can take advantage of essential nutrients that contribute to a balanced diet. These flowers not only add variety and color to dishes, but also provide vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that promote overall well-being. Considering the benefits they provide, it is advisable to include edible flowers in your daily diet to improve health and enjoy their nutritional advantages.
The use of edible flowers has increased significantly in recent years, not only because of their increasingly widespread use in haute cuisine and cake design, but mainly because of their nutritional and medicinal properties. Flowers are rich sources of many bioactive compounds, including carotenoids, phenolic compounds, vitamins C and E, saponins, and phytosterols.
The popularity of edible flowers is increasing due to their nutritional and health benefits. Evidence suggests that consuming some edible flowers can provide the daily recommended amounts of certain minerals, including magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.
Different parts of flowers contain different amounts of nutrients. Pollen, for example, contains large amounts of proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates, and lipids. Nectar has balanced amounts of sugars, amino acids, proteins, inorganic ions, lipids, organic acids, and alkaloids. Petals and other parts of flowers are potential sources of vitamins, minerals, and bioactive compounds.
The bioactive compounds present in edible flowers are associated with many health benefits, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, anticancer, anti-obesity, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective, gastroprotective, antidiarrheal, antimicrobial, antispasmodic, analgesic, and astringent properties.
About 97% of known edible flowers are associated with therapeutic properties. Specifically, about 32%, 26%, and 14% of flowers have been identified as having immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, and gastroprotective properties, respectively.
Previous in vitro studies have observed high antioxidant activity in begonias, roses, nasturtiums, and calendulas. Additionally, many edible flowers, including hibiscus, rose, chrysanthemum, tagetes, cosmos, bougainvillea, and calendula, exhibit anticancer effects against a wide range of cancers, including liver, colon, brain, skin, bladder, prostate, and breast cancers.
A group of researchers from the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Porto are using our flowers to prove their health benefits.
See the report here: https://tviplayer.iol.pt/programa/jornal-nacional/63e6588b0cf2665294d4f012/video/66641a570cf2a41c2edc1024