Camellia japonica flowers as a source of nutritional and bioactive compounds

• Published in: Foods Vol. 12; no. 15; p. 2825
• Main Authors: Pereira, Antia Gonzalez, Cassani, Lucia, Liu, Chao, Li, Ningyang, Chamorro, Franklin, Barreira, João, Simal-Gandara, Jesus, Prieto, Miguel A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI 25-07-2023; MDPI AG
• Subjects: Bioactive compounds; Biofuels; Biological activity; Camellia; Camellia japonica; Carbohydrates; Carbon fixation; Chemical composition; Chromatography; Composition; Cultivars; Dietary fiber; Fatty acids; Flowers; Flowers & plants; Food; Food quality; Food science; Formulations; Gases; Lipids; Mineralization; Nitrogen; Nutraceuticals; Nutrient content; Nutritional characterization; Nutritive value; Petals; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; Proteins; Raw materials; Sensors; Temperature; Thermal analysis; Spain; nutritional characterization; lipids; camellia; petals; nutraceuticals; thermal analysis
• ISSN: 2304-8158; 2304-8158
• DOI: 10.3390/foods12152825

In recent decades, plants have strengthened their relevance as sources of molecules potentially beneficial for health. This underpinning effect also arises from the extensive research that has been conducted on plants that are typically undervalued, besides being scarcely used. This is the case with Camellia japonica in Galicia (NW Spain), where, despite its abundance, it is exclusively used for ornamental purposes and has been studied only for its proximate composition. Thus, the present study was conducted on several additional parameters in the flowers of eight C. japonica varieties. Our results show that camellia has a high nutritional value, with carbohydrates as the most abundant macronutrients followed by a moderate protein content (4.4-6.3 g/100 g dry weight) and high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (especially & omega;-3 fatty acids, which represent 12.9-22.7% of the total fatty acids), raising its potential for use for nutritional purposes. According to the thermochemical characterization and elemental composition of camellia, the raw material has poor mineralization and low nitrogen content, but high percentages of volatile matter and high carbon-fixation rates, making it a promising alternative for biofuel production. Furthermore, preliminary analysis reveals a high concentration of different bioactive compounds. As a result of these findings, camellias can be used as food or functional ingredients to improve the nutritional quality of food formulations.
The research leading to these results was supported by MICINN supporting the Ramón y Cajal grant for M.A. Prieto (RYC-2017-22891), the Foundation for Science and Technology contract of J.C.M. Barreira (CEECIND/04479/2017) and by Xunta de Galicia supporting the post-doctoral grant of L. Cassani (ED481B-2021/152), and the pre-doctoral grant of A.G. Pereira (ED481A-2019/0228). Authors are grateful to the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 888003 UP4HEALTH Project (H2020-BBI-JTI-2019). The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and the Bio Based Industries Consortium.