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

- Edible petals can be included in a daily diet as nutrients source.
- Edible petals can be also used in infusions providing soluble sugars and organic acids.
- Rose petals gave the highest content of organic acids and sugars.
- Calendula petals presented the highest content in tocopherols.

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 α-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.