Phytochemical Content, Health Benefits, and Toxicology of Common Edible Flowers: A Review (2000–2015)

Abstract

Edible flowers contain numerous phytochemicals which contribute to their health benefits, and consumption of edible flowers has increased significantly in recent years. While many researchers have been conducted, no literature review of the health benefits of common edible flowers and their phytochemicals has been compiled. This review aimed to present the findings of research conducted from 2000 to 2015 on the species, traditional application, phytochemicals, health benefits, and the toxicology of common edible flowers. It was found in 15 species of common edible flowers that four flavonols, three flavones, four flavanols, three anthocyanins, three phenolic acids and their derivatives were common phytochemicals and they contributed to the health benefits such as anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-obesity, and neuroprotective effect. Toxicology studies have been conducted to evaluate the safety of common edible flowers and provide information on their dosages and usages.

Keywords:

• Flavonoids
• phenolic acids
• anthocyanins
• bioactivity
• safety

ACKNOWLWDGMENTS

This work was financially supported by the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (no. R15C200002) and the Special Project of Agricultural Product Quality Safety Risk Assessment (No. GJFP201502-3), Ministry of Agriculture, China.

AUTHOR DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No competing financial interests exist.