Edible flowers

Edible flowers can be a gorgeous and healthy addition to fruit and vegetable salads, some petals are even suggested as being great tossed through scrambled eggs and rice, such as calendula petals. They bring a huge variety of tastes such as sweet, spicy, floral and citrus but not all flowers are edible and you need to be absolutely certain before eating them. What is really important is that you only eat flowers you have grown, or that are sold for eating. Otherwise they could have been sprayed, or wild road side flowers could have been contaminated from exhaust fumes or the like.

Edible Flowers are relatively new to Western cuisine, but other cultures have been using them for centuries. They believe the flowers to be beneficial to health and flowers are often used for their medicinal properties, you are probably familiar with chamomile and valerian flowers being used medicinally. Because edible flowers are relatively new for Western cultures, we don’t have enough research to know the specific nutritional benefits. But we can look at popular thought that has come out herbal medicine and we can learn from cultures that have been using edible flowers for added nutrition and healing properties.

From experience, I have grown four different flowers for the health benefits suggested. I have liked the idea of obscure nutritional benefits and enjoyed the novelty factor of making calendula petal biscuits and having pretty blue borage flowers to garnish my salads. While there isn’t the same research for flowers that there is for vegetables, bright colors and the tastes typical of flowers such as bitter, tangy, peppery, are all similar features of vegetables we have identified as being highly nutritious. The colors and tastes of petals would suggest they are nutritious. Some refer to the flowers being the hormone center of the plant as being indicative of potential health benefits.

The first flower I was inspired to grow was borage. Borage flowers grow easily, they are delicate and a blue color, they taste like cucumbers and are a very special addition to a fruit salad. Borage is thought to a tonic plant that possibly supports the adrenal glands. It contains helpful minerals, especially potassium. They are often put into ice cubes to decorate summer cocktails.

Chive flowers are another popular flower, being part of the onion family it is rich in sulfur compounds which assist in keeping our skin clear and can help support natural detoxification. Chives are also nutritious in that they contain beneficial minerals like the potassium, iron and calcium.

I have also grown calendula and nasturtium flowers, these while brightening a green salad. Nasturtium flowers are believed to have antibacterial and antifungal properties, while calendula is often used for its healing properties.

Flowers are also fondly connected with health in terms of the relaxation and pleasure they can evoke, and the connections they help establish between people. Research has shown that they have an immediate impact on happiness and potentially a long term positive effect on mood!

Information supplied by Steph Askeur
Fresh-cut enthusiast