Evaluation on the fresh eating quality of tree peony flowers

Tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa) is an ornamental and medicinal plant in China. The fresh eating of flower petals has gradually become a new idea for further development. This study analyzed the sensory indexes, nutritional indexes and antioxidant indexes of fresh flowers of five cultivars, namely, ‘Fengdan’ (P. ostia ‘Fengdan’), ‘Xiangyu’ (P. suffruticosa ‘Xiangyu’), ‘Zhaofen’ (P. suffruticosa ‘Zhanfen’), ‘Luoyanghong’ (P. suffruticosa ‘Luoyanghong’) and ‘High Noon’ (P. ‘High Noon’), to provide a theoretical basis for eating fresh tree peony flowers. The aroma volatiles of petals mainly comprised terpenes, alcohols and alkanes. ‘Luoyanghong’ and ‘High Noon’ have brighter colors. The taste test showed that ‘Luoyanghong’, ‘High Noon’ and ‘Xiangyu’ were the most palatable. ‘High Noon’ contained the highest soluble sugar content, ‘Luoyanghong’ contained the highest starch and vitamin C (VC) levels, and ‘Zhaofen’ contained the highest soluble protein content. The contents of bioactive compounds were the highest in ‘Luoyanghong’, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was the highest in ‘Xiangyu’. The petals were rich in essential amino acids, with the highest amount in ‘Xiangyu’. ‘Luoyanghong’ and ‘High Noon’ showed strong antioxidant capacity. Therefore, tree peony flowers have excellent sensory qualities, abundant nutrients and strong antioxidant activity and could be further developed as a food to be eaten fresh. The results showed that tree peony flowers had great edible potential. Flowers of red and yellow cultivars can be considered for fresh eating on the basis of the traditional consumption of white and pink tree peony flowers.