What nutritional contribution do edible flowers make ? Eleese Cunningham

A question and answer advisory on the nutritional contribution edible flowers make is presented. Among other things, Cunningham says the renewed interest in cooking and garnishing with flowers has also prompted the interest of researchers in the nutritive value of edible flowers. Rop and colleagues, who recently wrote that the global demand for more attractive and tasty food could be enhanced by edible flowers, completed a study focusing on the nutritive value of 12 species of edible flowers of ornamental plants. They found the flower species with the highest mineral content were chrysanthemum, dianthus, or viola, and the most abundant element if potassium. The USDA Nutrient Database includes nutrient composition information for some edible flowers, including pumpkin flowers, sesbania flower, broccoli flower clusters, and white-flowered calabash.

Nutrition