# Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Properties of Edible Flowers
## 2 Phytochemicals
### Phenolic Compounds
#### 2.1.3 Flavonoids
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Flower** & **TFC** & **Flower** & **TFC** & **Flower** & **TFC** \\ \hline _Aglaia odorata_ & 3.85 & _Epipremum aureum_ & 1.6 & _Michelia alba_ & 5.6 \\ _Albizzia julibrisin_ & 3.78 & _Eriobotrya japonica_ & 9.6 & _Myostis sylvatica_ & 11.1 \\ _Amygdala persica_ & 16.9 & \
\begin{tabular}{c} _Florists chrysanthemum_ \\ (yellow) \\ \end{tabular} & 15.2 & _Nelumbo incifera_ & 7.8 \\ _Armeniaa mume_ & 28.5 &
\begin{tabular}{c} _Florists chrysanthemum_ \\ (white) \\ \end{tabular} & 11.2 & _Nymphaea stellata_ & 8.8 \\ _Bauhinia variegata_ & 6.62 & _Gombrena globosa_ & 1.2 & _Oroxylum indicum_ & 3.0 \\ _Bombax eiba_ & 5.76 & _Gombrena globosa_ & 2.2 & _Osmantthus fragrans_ & 85.3 \\ _Calendula officinalis_ & 6.82 & _Heddychiur coronarium_ & 2.0 & _Paeonia suffrrticosa_ & 19.2 \\ _Camella azalea_ & 8.76 & _Helrichysum bracteatum_ & 28.6 & _Panax pseudisongs_ & 1.4 \\ _Camella japonica_ & 4.36 & _Hentercollis cirtrua_ & 0.9 & _Plumeria rubra_ Acutifolia & 3.8 \\ _Campiss grandiflora_ & 9.76 & _Hibiscus sabdarififa_ & 2.9 & _Plumeria rubra_ Linn. Sp. & 15.7 \\ _Camna eablis_ & 6.67 & _Hyloceneus undatus_ & 0.8 & _Prunella vulgaris_ & 3.6 \\ _Chimonanthus praecox_ & 6.93 & _Jasntium samuc_ & 4.4 & _Punica grantatum_ & 25.0 \\ _Chrysanthemum indicum_ & 20.45 & _Lavandula angustifolia_ & 12.3 & _Rhododend sinusii_ & 20.0 \\ _Chrysanthemum indicum_ & 25.39 & _Lilium broynie_ & 7.2 & _Rosa centifolia_ & 10.9 \\ _Chrysanthemum_ & 19.19 & _Lilium bulbiferum_ & 1.6 & _Rosa chinensis_ & 24.1 \\ _Chrysanthemum morifolium_ & & & & \\ _ramat_ & 18.73 & _Lonicera japonica_ & 52.5 & _Rosa gallica_ & 13.4 \\ _Citrus aurantium_ & 2.96 & _Magnolia denudate_ & 2.3 & _Rosa rugose_ (rose) & 23.6 \\ _Coropsis tinctoria_ & 29.3 & _Magnolia grandiflora_ & 2.6 & _Rosa rugose_ (white-rose) & 2.5 \\ _Crocus sativcus_ L. & 2.57 & _Malus puntila_ & 16.9 & _Siriatia grosvenorii_ & 2.9 \\ _Cucumis sativus Linn. & 0.67 & _Malus specudilis_ & 1.6 & _Sophora japonica_ L. & 18.2 \\ _Cynpidium sintense_ & 4.06 & _Matricaria recutita_ & 10.2 & _Tropacoulum majus_ & 24.7 \\ _Dianthus carophyllus_ & 2.45 & _Mattioli nicana_ & 7.5 & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 5: Total flavonoid content (mg CAE/g DW) of several edible flowers [20]. ion and copigments may also affect it. They are responsible mainly for the red, blue and purple color of flowers. The term anthocyanins is derived from two Greek words, anthos (flower) and cyano (blue), and therefore its meaning is \"blue from flowers\". Anthocyanins and their color in flowers play a significant role in plants since they are responsible for the correct pollination. The color of flowers is necessary to attract the pollinators (birds and insects). In addition, for humans, anthocyanins have been correlated with plants with increased antioxidant activity and therefore with high nutritional value. Anthocyanins are present in nature mainly in their aglycon form, also called anthocyanin. There are six common anthocyanins, namely pelargonidin, cyanidin, delphinidin, peonidin, petunidin and malvidin, which are linked to one or more glycosidic units [28]. The variations in qualitative and quantitative composition of anthocyanins are responsible for the variations of colors in flowers, even among the different cultivars of the same species [5,7]. In general, specific anthocyanins have been correlated with specific colors in flowers. For example, pelarginidin is scarlet and delphinidin is more bluish. Therefore, the anthocyanins of pink, scarlet, red, red-purple and magenta flowers are cyanidin and/or pelargonidin with or without peonidin, while in cyanic flowers, which are purple, violet and blue, mainly the anthocyanins, delphinidin and its methylated derivatives, petunidin and malvidin are present [29]. In addition, regarding the total anthocyanin content (TAC), there is a small correlation with the flower color (blue = red > rose > yellow = orange > white) [30].