Herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.) flowers can be used as edible flowers, but few studies concerned about their edible values and the optimal harvest season. In this study, petals of three herbaceous peony cultivars including “Dafugui,” “Hongyan Zhenghui,” and “Yangfei Chuyu” at four different development stages were used as materials to measure the content of soluble sugar, organic acid, protein, vitamin C (Vc), total phenolics, total flavonoids, mineral elements, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, with the aim to understand the variation tendency of the nutritional ingredients and bioactive components in herbaceous peony flower petals during development and to determine the optimal harvest time for herbaceous peony flowers with better edible qualities. The results demonstrated that the content of individual nutritional and bioactive components was varied with cultivars and developmental stages. The soluble sugar content was 63.69–225.97 mg/g FW, organic acid 10.13–24.60 mg/g FW, soluble protein 9.83–39.17 mg/g FW, Vc 12.31–33.52 mg/100 g FW, total phenolics 83.23–136.19 mg/g DW, total flavonoids 10.20–24.98 mg/g DW, and SOD activity 62.92–284.09 U/g FW. For mineral elements, the content of Na, Mg, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Ni, and Zn was 20.96–65.51 μg/g DW, 810.85–1342.36 μg/g DW, 6723.68–12253.63 μg/g DW, 848.67–3038.46 μg/g DW, 1.14–8.44 μg/g DW, 48.70–149.72 μg/g DW, 1.20–2.17 μg/g DW, and 16.69–25.50 μg/g DW, respectively. The content of soluble sugar, protein, total flavonoids, and SOD activity in flower petals was the highest, and the content of organic acid was the lowest at the full bloom period (S3) for all three cultivars, while the highest Vc and total phenolics were at the early bloom stage (S2) and flower bud stage (S1), respectively. In conclusion, it is recommended to harvest herbaceous peony flowers at S3 with the best edible quality considering nutrients and bioactive components.

中文翻译：

---

不同采收期对芍药花瓣营养成分的影响

芍药（Paeonia lactiflora Pall.）花可作为食用花卉，但鲜有研究关注其食用价值和最佳收获季节。本研究以4个不同发育阶段的“大富贵”、“红颜正辉”、“养飞初愈”3个芍药品种的花瓣为材料，测定可溶性糖、有机酸、蛋白质、维生素C的含量。 Vc)、总酚类、总黄酮类、矿物质元素和超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）活性，旨在了解芍药花瓣发育过程中营养成分和生物活性成分的变化趋势，确定最佳采收时间。具有较好食用品质的草本牡丹花。结果表明，个体营养成分和生物活性成分的含量因品种和发育阶段而异。可溶性糖含量为 63.69–225.97 mg/g FW，有机酸 10.13–24.60 mg/g FW，可溶性蛋白质 9.83–39.17 mg/g FW，Vc 12.31–33.52 mg/100 g FW，总酚类物质– 836.13 mg/g FW。 g DW，总黄酮类化合物 10.20–24.98 mg/g DW，SOD 活性 62.92–284.09 U/g FW。对于矿物元素，Na、Mg、K、Ca、Mn、Fe、Ni和Zn的含量为20.96-65.51 μg/g DW，810.85-1342.36 μg/g DW，6723.68-12253.63 μg/g DW，848。分别为 3038.46 μg/g DW、1.14–8.44 μg/g DW、48.70–149.72 μg/g DW、1.20–2.17 μg/g DW 和 16.69–25.50 μg/g DW。花瓣中可溶性糖、蛋白质、总黄酮和SOD活性的含量最高，3个品种在盛花期（S3）有机酸含量最低，而Vc和总酚含量分别在早花期（S2）和花蕾期（S1）最高。综上所述，考虑到营养成分和生物活性成分，建议在S3采收具有最佳食用品质的芍药花。