EVALUATION OF EDIBLE FLOWERS FROM NORTHERN INDIA AS A RICH SOURCE OF PHYTOCHEMICALS WITH ANTIOXIDANT AND PHENOLIC PROPERTIES

Abstract

Herbal plants have been used in the traditional system of medicine, aiming to maintain health and to cure diseases. We investigated the phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacities of free and bound phenolics from 13 available edible flowers which have long been consumed as vegetable and used as ingredients in cooking. In this study, an attempt was made to estimate the phenolic level, carbohydrate level, protein level, ascorbic level, FRAP, modified FRAP, flavonoid test, antioxidant level, tannins test. Herbal flowers were chosen (e.g. Chrysanthemum indicum, Vachellia nilotica, Butea monosperma, Salvia splendens, Rosa indica, Hibiscus rosasinensis, Dianthus pavonius, Calendula officinalis, Tropaeolum majus, Celosia argentea, Lantana camara, Viola tricolor). The highest ascorbic acid content (164.44 ± 5.09 mg/ml, phenolic levels (760.66 ± 5.03 mg TAE/g) and antioxidant levels (39.03 ± 0.50 mg AAE/g) was found in Rosa indica whereas highest flavonoid content was found in Viola tricolor (0.56 ± 0.02 mg AAE/g. The antioxidant levels, total phenolic and total flavonoid content (correlation coefficient R2 = 0. 5851 for phenolic, R2= 0.456 for flavonoid, R2 = 0.6639 for ascorbic acid) were correlated which showed significant correlation indicating that the phenolics and ascorbic acid are major components responsible for antioxidant activity of flowers.