Nutritional and Nutraceutical Potential of Underutilised Wild Flowers used by Tribal People of Koraput for Health Benefit

Wild edible flowers used as indigenous food and improve remarkably to the nutritional security of several tribal people of Koraput. However, systematic study on nutritional and nutraceutical potential of these wild edible flowers is meager. Present study evaluated the proximate compositions, vitamins, phenol, flavonoid and antioxidant capacity in selected wild flowers of Koraput. The protein, fat and carbohydrates of the wild flowers are varied from 3.36 to 5.38, 2.29 to 5.51% and 0.89 to 5.59%, respectively. The wild flowers are rich in energy content which varied from 49.49 to 80.64 kcal100g −1 . The energy content was highest in Sesbania grandiflora followed by > Gliricidia sepium > Bauhinia variegata > Indigofera tinctoria > Woodfordia fruticosa. The flowers are rich in vitamin C (1.97–5.12 mg 100 g −1 ) and vitamin E (0.25–1.34 mg 100 g −1 ) . The studied wild flowers contain antioxidant, flavonoid and phenol which were varied from 92.3 to 238.86%, 7.19 to 14.47 mg 100 g −1 dry weight and 32.47 to 111.93 mg 100 g −1 dry weight, respectively. Antioxidant capacity showed significant positive relation with vitamin C, vitamin E and flavonoid. Based on the results, some wild flowers rich in antioxidants should be promoted for the sources of natural antioxidants and beneficial for health.