## 4 Discussion
The lower energy value in fresh pumpkin flowers with respect to the values obtained in this paper was published in a report by the US Department of Agriculture [28]. According to this report, the energy value of fresh pumpkin flowers was 15 kcal/100 g. The consumption of foods rich in antioxidant compounds has a positive effect on the health of the body by inhibiting certain diseases. Carotenoids belong to the group of plant antioxidants which act as plant pigments and also antioxidants. To date, more than 600 carotenoid pigments have been classified. These compounds are divided into caroten, including \(\alpha\)-carotene; \(\beta\)-carotene; \(\gamma\)-carotene; lycopene; and xanthophylls, in which we distinguish lutein, zeaxanthin, violaxanthin, and capsanthin. They are mainly found in fruits, seeds, and flowers. The most common carotenoids in the daily diet include \(\alpha\)-carotene, \(\beta\)-carotene, \(\beta\)-critoxanthin, lutein, lycopene, and zeaxanthin. As this research shows, the color of pumpkin flowers varies considerably and largely depends on the variety of pumpkin. The \(\beta\)-carotene content of fresh as well as stored pumpkin flowers was also determined by [PERSON] et al. [12]. The researchers showed that during storage, the content of this component increased in comparison with fresh flowers, containing an average of 10-14 mg of \(\beta\)-carotene/100 g fresh weight of flowers. These values were similar to the least colored buttermut squash flowers in our research. [PERSON] et al. [16] obtained the highest \(\beta\)-carotene content for \(C\). _maxima_, and the lowest for \(C\). _pepo_. The antioxidant activity of plants depends largely on the polyphenol content. This relationship in the studied pumpkin flowers is positive (R = 0.84), which means that the activity increases with the increase in the levels of these components. Levels of polyphenols in fresh pumpkn flowers, calculated as gallic acid equivalent (approx. 320-340 mg GAE/100 g FM), as well as antioxidant capacity (39-93 uM TE/g) were presented by [PERSON] et al. [12]. [PERSON] et al. [16] obtained a large variation in the total phenol content of fresh pumpkin flowers, which was related to the pumpkin species. These values were only 50.17 mg GAE/100 g FW for C. pepo, but 436.16 and 453.72 mg GAE/100 g FM for \(C\). _maxima_ and \(C\). _moschata_, respectively. The most common compounds among the polyphenols are the flavonoids that act as pigments. They give the yellow color to plants found in nature [33]. In addition to giving the characteristic color of plant-based food, they have many other very beneficial properties, e.g., they protect plants against stress, fungi, mold, and ultraviolet radiation. They work as detoxifying agents, antibacterials, and defense compounds, and also play a role in thermal acclimatization of plants, anti-frost resistance, and resistance to drought [33,34]. The dietary role of flavonoids is, e.g., prevention against neurodegenerative diseases, coronary heart disease, and cancer [35,36]. The mechanism of antioxidant activity can manifest itself in two ways. One mechanism is responsible for transforming the radical into a more stable compound. This is done by providing the radicals with a hydrogen atom or electrons, resulting in radical reactions being cut-off. This group includes phenols of the gallates, hydroquinones, trihydroxy-butylrophenones, and tocopherols. The action of compounds such as ascorbic acid, flavonoids, vitamin A, \(\beta\)-carotene, and selenium is based on the capture of oxygen atoms and the chelation of ions that make up the radical molecule [7, 8, 9].