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Edible flowers: Review of flower processing and extraction of

bioactive compounds by novel technologies

Linlin Zhao, Hanzhi Fan, Min Zhang, Bimal Chitrakar, Bhesh

Bhandari, Bin Wang

PII: S0963-9969(19)30546-0
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2019.108660
Reference: FRIN 108660

To appear in: Food Research International

Received date: 31 March 2019

Revised date: 6 September 2019
Accepted date: 9 September 2019

Please cite this article as: L. Zhao, H. Fan, M. Zhang, et al., Edible flowers: Review of
flower processing and extraction of bioactive compounds by novel technologies, Food
Research International (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2019.108660

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© 2018 Published by Elsevier.

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1 Edible flowers: Review of flower processing and extraction of bioactive

2 compounds by novel technologies

3
4 Linlin Zhaoa, Hanzhi Fana, Min Zhanga,b,* min@jiangnan.edu.cn, Bimal Chitrakara,c,
5 Bhesh Bhandarid, Bin Wange
6 aState Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 214122 Wuxi, Jiangsu,

7 China

8 bJiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Advanced Food Manufacturing Equipment and Technology,

9 Jiangnan University, China

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10 c International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Jiangnan University, 214122 Wuxi, Jiangsu

11 Province, China

12
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dSchool of Agriculture and

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Food Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Shandong Huamei Biology Science & Technology Co., Pingyin, China
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15
16 *Corresponding author at: School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 214122
17 Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China.
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18 Abstract
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19 Edible flowers have a long history of consumption in the form of vegetable

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20 flowers, fruit flowers or aromatic flowers. Because of their colorful and flavorful
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21 nature, edible flowers are believed to contain various nutritional and bioactive

22 components. Today, people are advocating to eat nutritious food and paying

23 attention to healthy foods, flower foods have become a new fashion diet trend.

24 Although edible flowers have great sensory attraction, they have not used in food

25 yet as widely as fresh vegetables and fruits have. The extremely short shelf-life limits

26 the commercial use of edible flowers. In order to find some novel processing

27 technologies which can extend the shelf-life and ensure the commercial use of

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28 flowers, we summarized the data of more than 100 studies performed until now on

29 edible flowers. This review concludes emerging technologies including modified

30 atmosphere packaging, high hydrostatic pressure, irradiation and edible coating to

31 keep flower fresh, drying technologies including microwave drying, freeze drying and

32 hybrid drying to maintain the optimal state of flower materials, as well as different

33 extraction methods to extract the bioactive compounds and the microencapsulation

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34 of these compounds.

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35

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Keywords: Edible flowers, fresh keeping, drying, bioactive compound, extraction
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38 Abbreviations
39 ANN: Artificial neural networks
40 CAE: Catechin equivalents
41 CAT : Catalase
42 CO2: Carbon dioxide
43 DIC: Controlled pressure drop
44 DMSO: Dimethyl sulphoxide
45 FIR: Far-infrared radiation
46 FIR-HA: Combined FIR and hot air convection drying
47 FW: Fresh weight
48 GAE: Gallic acid equivalents

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49 HD: Hydrodistillation

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50 HHP: High hydrostatic pressure
51 ICGA: Isochlorogenic acid C
52
53 MAE: Microwave-assisted extraction
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IL-UAE: Ionic liquid-based ultrasonic-assisted extraction
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54 MAHD: Microwave-assisted water distillation
55 MAP: Modified atmosphere packaging
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56 MCP: Methylcyclopropene
57 MDA: Malondialdehyde
58 MEF: Moderate electric field
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59 MFD: Microwave-assisted freeze drying

60 OAHD: Ohmic-assisted hydrodistillation
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61 OASD: Ohmic accelerated steam distillation

62 PE: Polyethylene
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63 PEF: Pulsed electric field

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64 POD: Poxidase
65 PP: Polypropylene
66 PPO: Polyphenol oxidase
67 SD: Steam distillation
68 SFE: Supercritical fluid extraction
69 SOD: Superoxide dismutase
70 UAE: Ultrasonic assisted extraction
71 US: Ultrasound

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73 1. Introduction

74 There are mainly three types of edible flowers in the world, namely fruit flowers,

75 vegetable flowers and medicinal aromatic flowers (Zhang, Bhandari, & Fang, 2017). In

76 the history, flower cookery can be traced back to civilizations of antiquity and the

77 flower usage dates back to 3000 BC (Mlcek & Rop, 2011). In many countries of the

78 world, flowers consumptions have been documented for thousands of years

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79 (Navarro-gonzalez, Gonzalex, GarciaValverde, Bantista-Ortin, & Perriago, 2015). The

80 ancients used flowers as stuffs in different meals, salads and drinks. Edible flowers

81
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were consumed centuries ago in ancient Rome and Greece as relish and flavor
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82 enhancer of many savories and sweet dishes. Ancient books and classics in China
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83 recorded the words and phrases about edible flowers (Liu, 2017).

84 In different countries, the varieties of edible flowers and their cooking methods
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85 are varied. The Chinese have added flowers as raw materials to a variety of recipes
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86 (Cunningham, 2015), as for example, flowers of Osmanthus fragrans Lour, and

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87 Flos Sophorae were used to cook various types of pastry, soup and congee. In ancient

88 Rome, people used flowers in cooking, as did in Chinese and Indian cultures (Wu,

89 Yuan, & Wang, 2004). Violets and roses were used in their salad and lavender was

90 used in sauces (Mcguffin, Hobbs, Upton, & Goldberg, 2013). In the United States,

91 flowers of pumpkin and squash plants have been used as ingredients for a long

92 history. In El Salvador and Honduras, people eat scented flower buds and unopened

93 flowers. In Europe, flowers are often used to decorate food at aristocratic banquets

94 and feasts, Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) flowers are added to drinks and salads,
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95 Sugar boiled dandelion flowers and fried black elderberry flowers are also common

96 dish (Rop, Mlcek, Jurikova, Neugebauerova, & Vabkova, 2012).

97 Edible flowers are usually eaten whole, but in some cases, only some parts are

98 eaten. Depending upon different nutritional content and flavor, there are also

99 differences in the parts used for the processing of edible flowers. For example,

100 saffron stigma is mainly used for consumption and clove flower bud is used for

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101 extraction of oil, whereas in case of rose flower processing, the base part of the

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102 petals are removed because of its bitter taste (Mlcek & Rop, 2011). Nowadays, there

103 pr
are many edible flower products in the market. Compared with fresh products,
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104 processed products have the advantages of various forms and convenience in
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105 handing. It is also safer to eat processed edible flower products than to eat fresh

106 petal directly. Fresh petals have high water content and microorganisms are easily
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107 proliferated (Nicolau & Gostin, 2016). In order to avoid undesirable effect, they need
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108 to be consumed on time. Processing of edible flowers can prolong the shelf-life of
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109 flowers and maintain the sensory characteristics for a long time. Apart from to
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110 processing edible flowers into stable products, certain substances in the edible

111 flowers are also extracted as additives (Ran, Zhang, Wang, & Adhikari, 2019). There

112 are many extraction methods of bioactive substances from agricultural materials.

113 Solvent extraction seems to be the most common method. However, this method has

114 many disadvantages, such as, long extraction time, low efficiency and high toxicity.

115 Thus, many studies have given great importance to novel extraction methods that

116 make up for the disadvantages of solvent extraction (Tiwari, 2015). In order to find

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117 some novel processing technologies which can prolong the shelf-life and ensure the

118 commercial use of flowers, this review provides the emerging technologies to keep

119 the flower fresh, drying technologies to maintain the optimal state of flower

120 materials, as well as different extraction methods to extract the bioactive compounds

121 and the microencapsulation of these compounds.

122

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123 2. Quality attributes of edible flowers

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124 For fresh flowers and processed flowers, the main quality attributes that

125
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contribute to sales are appearance, aroma and colour (Fernandes, Casal, Pereira,
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126 Saraiva, & Ramalhosa, 2017a). These attributes are determined by harvesting
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127 methods, flower variety, maturity stages, and can change rapidly during post-harvest

128 storage and processing (Kou, Turner, & Luo, 2012).

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129 Appearance is the primary quality attribute of fresh flowers and processed
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130 flowers. After harvest, flowers are prone to discoloration, dehydration, petal
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131 abscission, wilting and browning. In the process of people’s purchase and selecting
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132 flowers, the main consideration is colour, flower integrity, and petal shape without

133 defects (Kelley, Behe, Biernbaum, & Poff, 2001). Flowers with defective appearance

134 are not accepted by consumers. Their colours are predetermined by many chemical

135 compounds, among which the contents of carotenoids and flavonoids are the most

136 important (Friedman et al., 2010).There are some flowers such as broccoli,

137 cauliflower, cabbage and artichoke, which are generally considered as vegetables, but

138 these are inflorescences. In the cooking process, these flowers need to have a certain

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139 firmness, crispness, juiciness, and toughness (Fernandes, Casal, Pereira, Ramalhosa,

140 & Saraiva, 2017c). In flowers, aroma results from the production and emission of

141 various volatile compounds, which are received by special receptors in the human

142 olfactory system and produce the feelings of pleasure. According to the mode of

143 biosynthesis these compounds could be dominatingly divided into three kinds:

144 terpenes, aliphatic compounds and phenylpropanoids/benzenoids (Li, 2012).

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145 3 Nutritional Properties

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146 Flowers are considered to possess nutritional value and, even medicinal value

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(Oyeyemi, Arowosegbe, & Famosa, 2017). Pollen, petals, nectar and other parts of
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148 flowers contain many kinds of nutritional substances (Fernandes, Casal, Pereira,
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149 Saraiva, & Ramalhosa, 2017a). Pollen is rich in carbohydrates, carotenoids, flavonoids,

150 proteins, saturated and unsaturated fatty acids (Mlcek & Rop, 2011). Nectar is a
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151 mixture of glucose, fructose and sucrose. It also contains proteins, free amino acids,
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152 lipids, alkaloids, phenol, terpenoids, inorganic ions, and organic acids (Nicolson, Nepi,
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153 & Pacini, 2007). Petals and other parts of the flower are sources of antioxidants,
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154 vitamins and minerals that can play important roles in human diet and health (Rop,

155 Mlcek, Jurikova, Neugebauerova, & Vabkova, 2012).

156 For example, dandelion is one of the widely used flower which is rich in

157 carotenoid, Vitamin A and Vitamin C, and also high in the mineral phosphorus

158 (Qureshi, Adil, Abd El-Hack, Alagawany, & Farag, 2017). Flowers of Crataegus

159 sanguinea hawthorn contain rutin, vitexin, quercetin, and hyperoside (Sagaradze,

160 Babaeva, & Kalenikova, 2017). The receptacle of a rose is rich in Vitamin C (Youssef &

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161 Mousa, 2012). The content of Vitamin E（4.92 mg/100 g) in day lily ranks first among

162 wild vegetables (Fan & Zhao, 2013). Unexpectedly, after long-term research, Italian

163 scientists proposed that the most common cockscomb could be used both as

164 ornamental flowers and as a kind of food, providing a variety of substances needed

165 for human nutritional balance (Fan & Zhao, 2013). Cellulose in flowers can promote

166 gastrointestinal peristalsis, clean the intestinal wall and prevent the occurrence of

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167 intestinal malignant tumors (Liu, 2017). The absorption of vitamins and pigments in

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168 flowers by the human body can help eliminate free radicals in the body, slow down

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aging, prevent and reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases and cancers
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170 (Fernandes, Casal, Pereira, Saraiva, & Ramalhosa, 2017a).
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171 Some other edible flowers are shown in Figure 1. These flowers all contain

172 different levels of antioxidant activity and anthocyanins. Tagetes erecta and Fuchsia
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173 hybrida have stronger antioxidant activity, which reach 70.42 and 47.52 mmol FeSO 4
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174 /100 g FW, respectively. Petunia × hybrida，Dianthus × barbatus，Pelargonium

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175 peltatum and Viola × wittrockiana contain higher concentrations of anthocyanins,

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176 which reach 14.44，13.35，12.52，12.4 mg cyn-3-glu eq./100 g FW , respectively

177 (Benvenuti, Bortolotti, & Maggini, 2016; Rocio et al., 2018). Besides, Begonia

178 semperflorens and Borago officinalis have been reported to have 448.77 and 197.85

179 mg/100 g FW polyphenols, respectively (Grzeszczuk, Stefaniak, & Pachlowska, 2016).

180 High levels of phenolic (62.67 mg GAE/g) and flavonoids (24.73 mg CAE/g) were also

181 found in Tropaeolum majus (Jingyun, Xiaoming, Meenu, & Baojun, 2018).

182 Although edible flowers are nutritious food, they should not be eaten blindly.

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183 Several cases of food-borne disease involving the consumption of edible flowers have

184 been reported (Fernandes, Casal, Pereira, Saraiva, & Ramalhosa, 2017a). Safety

185 factors involved in flowers include naturally occurring toxic substances, microbial

186 contamination, chemical residues and heavy metals pollution. Organically grown

187 edible flowers are safe to eat. Appropriate post-processing procedure can help to

188 reduce the potential risk of contamination.

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189 4. Processing of edible flowers

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190 Edible flowers are very perishable due to their higher moisture content, it is not

191
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possible to keep them for longer time without processing. Processing of edible
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192 flowers aims to keep their freshness by various means including modified
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193 atmosphere packaging, high hydrostatic pressure, edible coating as well as to dry

194 them into stable form by different drying technologies. The following section
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195 describes these technologies in details.

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196 4.1 Processing to keep freshness

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197 Edible flowers add a visual appeal, freshness, delicate flavor and exotic aroma to

198 dishes and are more and more popular in gourmet cuisine, because many excellent

199 restaurants are striving to surpass the common. Some better hotels and restaurants

200 decorate meals with edible flowers and consume them as stuffs in entrees, salads,

201 drinks, soups and pastries. Edible flowers are generally packaged in small and hard

202 plastic wraps (Newman & O’Conner, 2009). Though edible flowers have great sensory

203 attraction, they are not attracted the attention as much as fresh vegetables and fruits

204 due to their low yields and more specialized consumer market. The extremely short
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205 shelf-life also limits the commercial use of edible flowers (Serek & Reid, 2000).

206 Presently, edible flowers must be used within 2-5 days after harvest, so they need to

207 be transported via air transport to other areas before the expiration date (Kou,

208 Turner, & Luo, 2012). Therefore, it is essential to develop advanced technologies to

209 preserve flower quality and to prolong the shelf-life of post-harvest flower in order to

210 reduce transportation costs and increase the possibility of road transportation.

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211 Expanding the consumption range of flower products is conducive to increasing the

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212 market occupancy of flower food. To extend the shelf-life of post-harvest flower,

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some effective measures including modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), high
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214 hydrostatic pressure (HHP), irradiation and edible coating have been applied
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215 (Villavicencio et al., 2018; Xie, 2015; Gude, Dijkema, & Miller, 2011).

216 4.1.1 Modified atmosphere packaging

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217 The modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) technology uses a polymer film to
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218 retain the products of respiration in a packaging. The atmosphere inside the
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219 packaging is changed to slow down the respiration rate, decrease the water loss, and

220 improve the shelf-life of food materials (Madonna, Pramod, & Dharini, 2019). For

221 fresh products such as cut flowers, it is a common practice to decrease the metabolic

222 activity of the product, which is reducing O2 concentration and increasing

223 CO2 concentration. The increased CO 2 concentration can inhibit the growth and

224 reproduction of mold and slow down the food decay resulting from spoilage

225 microorganisms (Falagán & Terry, 2018).

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226 Nowadays MAP technology has been widely used to keep the quality and

227 freshness, and improve the shelf-life of fresh vegetables, fruits and many other

228 garden products (Sing, Rai, Alam, & Singh, 2018; Esteban, Buezo, Becerril, &

229 García-Plazaola, 2019). Although MAP is not advisable for the packaging of long

230 stemmed cut flowers, it is very suitable for the packaging of other edible flowers,

231 evaluation of this technology in carnation, lily and rose has shown promising results

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232 in extending shelf-life (Aros, Orellana, & Escalona, 2017).

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233 To extend storage time of several different kinds of flower bulbs and herbaceous

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perennials, Gude and others (2011) investigated the effect of MAP with suitable
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235 filling materials. By the use of MAP, the shelf-life of perennials and bulbs was
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236 improved markedly from 3-4 weeks to 2-3 months.

237 Kou, Turner, and Luo (2012) evaluated the effect of MAP alone and in
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238 combination with 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatment on the shelf-life and

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239 product quality of snapdragons and carnations. Freshly harvested flowers were
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240 packaged in tray, packaged with breathable film, with or without 1-MCP (0.5 μL/L),
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241 and kept at 5℃constantly. 1-MCP, is a nontoxic antagonist of ethylene (causes petal

242 abscission and aging) (Asil & Mahnaz, 2013), binds to ethylene receptors for longer

243 periods of time even at lower contents than other ethylene inhibitors (Reid & Celikel,

244 2008; Celikel, Cevallos, & Reid, 2010). Thus, 1-MCP has been used to prolong storage

245 time of some cut flowers and potted flowers. They found that packaging with MAP

246 decelerated the decrease in O2 and the accumulation of ethylene and CO 2 for both

247 snapdragons and carnations. 1-MCP effectively reduced abscission in snapdragon and

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248 preserved fresh appearance, higher quality and prolong storage time of both flower

249 species.

250 Khaled et al. (2019) investigated the effect of MAP with a gas mixture of 3% O 2,

251 5% CO2 and 92% N2 on shelf-life of cauliflower, polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene

252 (PE) pouches were used, samples were stored at 4 ± 1 ℃. The cauliflower packed with

253 AP1 (PE pouches + ordinary air), AP2 (PP pouches + ordinary air) and MAP2 (PP

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254 pouches + gas mixture) had a shelf-life of up to 30, 20 and 25 days, respectively.

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255 While, the shelf-life of the sample packed with MAP1 (PE pouches + gas mixture)

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could be improved to more than 30 days. According to the results of artificial neural
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257 networks (ANN), in terms of total color changes, samples packed with MAP1 had
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258 marketing capability of up to 50 days. So, it could be concluded that MAP1 was

259 recommended and suitable for improving the shelf-life of cauliflower.

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260 4.1.2 High hydrostatic pressure technology

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261 At present, consumers have put forward higher requirements on the safety and
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262 nutrition of foods, especially those have special functions for human health. In order

263 to meet new requirements, “non-thermal” technology which maximizes the

264 retention of nutrients had been developed. While it can produce a small amount of

265 heat, but increased temperature never reach the level of traditional heating

266 processes and it could be cooled by cooling system (Edwin et al., 2014).

267 At industrial level, the most developed and extensive preservation technique at

268 present is high hydrostatic pressure (HHP). Foods processed by this technique can not

269 only maintain the nutritional level and sensory quality, but also provide appropriate
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270 effects of enzyme deactivation and microbial inactivation(Polydera, Stoforos, &

271 Taoukis, 2003).

272 HHP technology uses water or fluid as the medium to transfer pressure. Under

273 the pressure of 100-1000 MPa, the packaged food is processed for a certain period of

274 time, making changes in some macromolecular substances in the food, such as

275 enzyme inactivation, starch gelatinization and protein denaturation, and killing the

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276 microorganisms in the food at room temperature, so as to achieve the purpose of

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277 food preservation and storage (Chawla, Patil, & Singh, 2011). At the same time, some

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small molecules in the foods, such as polyphenols and vitamins, are not affected, that
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279 is, it does not change the covalent bond structure of small molecules, and can form
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280 or destroy non-covalent bonds (such as hydrophobic bonds, hydrogen bonds and

281 ionic bonds etc.). Therefore, HHP technology is able to maintain the maximum
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282 degree of food flavor, color, nutrients and so on.

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283 HHP technology in cauliflower and broccoli (generally not considered as flowers
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284 by consumers) has been widely studied, but it exists few information for other edible
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285 flowers (Fernandes, Casal, Pereira, Ramalhosa, & Saraiva, 2017c). Fernández et al.

286 (2006) concluded that blanched and high-pressure-frozen treated broccoli presented

287 better texture, lower drip losses, and less cell damage than conventional frozen ones.

288 McInerney et al. (2007) studied the effect of HHP in broccoli juice. β-carotene and

289 Lutein, quantitatively the major carotenoids in broccoli, were not substantially

290 affected by HHP after applying pressure levels at 400 and 600 MPa.

291 Fernandes et al. (2017b) investigated the effects of HHP application on

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292 centaurea, pansies, camellia and borage. After treatment, flower samples were

293 stored at 4℃, and the appearance, biological activity and microbial content of several

294 flowers were analyzed. Using pressure of 75 to 450 MPa, for holding times of 1, 5 and

295 10 min, respectively, centaurea showed good appearance at treatment of 100 MPa/5

296 min, but the shelf-life did not extend. Pansies with treatment at 75 MPa/5 min or 10

297 MPa/min kept the appearance of fresh flowers. Furthermore, the shelf-life of pansies

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298 (treated with 75 MPa/5 min) was extended to 20 days (untreated only 6 days) of

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299 storage at 4℃. HHP treatment brought about the generation of active substances of

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pansies. In conclusion, HHP treatment at 75 MPa (holding 5 or 10 min) was found a s
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301 a promising technique to extend the preservation time of pansy samples. Thus, the
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302 HHP response may depend on the type of the flowers.

303 4.1.3 Edible coatings technology

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304 Edible coating is one of the promising methods to prolong the preservation time
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305 of food ingredients. A variety of edible materials from renewable sources, such as
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306 lipids, proteins and polysaccharides, individually or in combination, have been used

307 as edible coatings (Sharma, Shehin, Kaur, & Vyas, 2019). Properly prepared edible

308 coatings can be used in most agricultural products to stabilize product quality, ensure

309 food safety, maintain nutritional value and reduce economic production costs.

310 The main functions of edible coating are to provide barriers for mois ture loss,

311 gas, and prevent the losses of natural colour and volatile flavor substances in fresh

312 agricultural products. At the same time edible coating avoids odor absorption, delay

313 the oxidation of enzymes and protect fresh agricultural products from softening and
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314 browning during preservation period. It also prevents mechanical, pressure, and

315 vibration damages. Edible coating can serve as a carrier of some functional

316 compounds (include nutrients, flavors, antioxidant and antimicrobial components) in

317 order to maintain quality and extend the preservation time of fresh food materials

318 (Ju et al. 2019; Shigematsu et al., 2018). Edible coating can also be used for

319 processing frozen foods to improve the structural integrity and prevent moisture

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320 absorption and oxidation (Gabriela et al., 2017).

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321 There are many researches and applications on coating preservation of

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post-harvest and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, but the application of this
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323 technology to edible flowers is rarely reported. In one study, Xie (2015) reported the
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324 use of composite coating comprised of soy protein isolate, sodium alginate and

325 chitosan for Night-Fragrant flower as test materials. The results showed that the
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326 composite coating solution could effectively maintain the sensory quality of
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327 Night-Fragrant flower and inhibit shedding rate, reduce the weight and Vitamin C
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328 content losses, and inhibit PPO (polyphenol oxidase) activity. The optimal
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329 formulation of composite coatings for Night-Fragrant flower fresh keeping was found

330 to be of soy protein isolate 3%, sodium alginate 0.25% and chitosan 0.7% in an

331 aqueous solution. This study provided a basis for the production, marketing, stora ge

332 and freshness preservation of Night-Fragrant flower. Fernandes et al. (2018a) studied

333 the effect of alginate coating on microbiological and physico-chemical quality of

334 pansy flower stored at 4 °C in a refrigerated environment for up to 21 days.

335 Hydrolysable tannin, anthocyanins and flavonoids and antioxidant activities of pansy

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336 flower were found higher in coated flowers than in those of uncoated ones. The

337 shelf-life of pansy was extended to 14 days, which was 7 days longer than the

338 untreated ones. After 14 days of storage, the numbers of yeast and molds in the

339 alginate coating treatment were also lower in coated ones than that in the uncoated

340 pansies. They also investigated the effects of packaging combined with alginate

341 coating on samples of pansy (Fernandes, Pereira, & Baptista, 2018b). Visual

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342 appearance, colour change, weight reduction, moisture activity and dimensional

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343 changes of flowers were studied. Compared with the uncoated treatment, alginate

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coating significantly preserved the visual appearance of samples in 5 °C refrigerated
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345 environment and delayed the degradation time from 3-4 days up to 14 days.
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346 4.1.4 Irradiation technology

347 Irradiation technology is a commercial and low cost feasible alternative method
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348 in this regard. It is an effective non-chemical treatment to prolong shelf-life by

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349 achieving the purpose of killing pest insects, as well as improving hygiene and safety
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350 of edible flowers (Fan, Niemira, & Sokorai, 2003; Hallman, 2011). Some previous

351 studies have shown that the irradiation has an insecticidal effect on flowers (Kikuchi,

352 2000). The dose of 300 Gy is believed to be sufficient to cause sterility of insects and

353 mites at all stages. Low-dose irradiation also has a sterilization effect. Although the

354 dose as low as 200 Gy can kill most harmful insects, it cannot completely control

355 post-harvest fungal diseases of fresh flowers. The effect of food irradiation depends

356 on the treatment dose, moisture content, substance composition and storage

357 conditions of flowers (Chu, Shin, Park, & Jeonf, 2015).

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358 Flowers of Bauhinia variegata L. var. candida alba Buch.-Ham were exposed to

359 electron beam irradiation with 0.5 kGy, 0.8 kGy and 1 kGy doses in order to evaluate

360 the changes in its nutritional and chemical properties, as well as the cytotoxicity,

361 antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities (Villavicencio et al., 2018). The results

362 showed that irradiation dose had a little effect on nutritional profile, as well as

363 cytotoxicity, but anti-inflammatory activity decreased slightly. At a dose of 0.5 kGy,

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364 antioxidant activity was increased, which was consistent with the increase of

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365 phenolic compounds in the dose. Koike et al. (2015) investigated the impacts of

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several electron beam irradiation and gamma irradiation doses on biological activity
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367 index (antioxidant activities and phenolic constituents) of V. tricolor flowers. The

samples were irradiated by a 60Co source Gammacell 200 (1.230 kGy/h dose rate, in
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368

369 0.5 kGy, 0.8 kGy and 1 kGy doses) and an electron-beam accelerator (the applied
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370 doses were 0.5, 0.8, and 1 kGy). Irradiation treatment did not adversely affect the
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371 antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds contents, which made it possible to
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372 prolong the preservation time of V. tricolor samples, providing an economical and
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373 feasible solution for this kind of special food (Koike et al., 2015). In addition, the dose

374 of radiation required to control the fungus had a negative effect on the quality of the

375 flowers (Fjeld, Gislerød, Revhaug, & Mortensen, 1994). Therefore, it is necessary to

376 reduce the dose of irradiation or to find alternative technologies, to achieve the

377 effect of inhibiting the development of fungal diseases after harvest. An effective

378 alternative approach can be to combine low doses of gamma radiation with other

379 preservation methods, such as physical treatments, eco-friendly agents and natural

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380 compounds. In one study, compared with a single treatment, the effectiveness of

381 combined treatment of gamma and UV-C irradiation was increased, and the negative

382 impact on raw materials was decreased (Patrícia, Sérgio, Benato, Camili, & Santos,

383 2007).

384 4.2 Novel drying technologies

385 Flowers still have vigorous life activities after picking. Therefore, in order to

f
386 maintain the optimal state of flower materials and preserve their original shape,

oo
387 aroma and color, it is necessary to timely process the raw materials. Treating raw

388
pr
materials with a drying technology can extend their shelf-life, because the drying
e-
389 process will inhibit the degradation of enzymes and limit the growth of
Pr

390 microorganisms (Ahrne´, Pereira, Staack, & Floberg, 2007). Particularly for flower

391 materials, the usual treatment practiced is drying.

al

392 There are some conventional drying methods used by people to produce edible
rn

393 flowers, such as natural drying and hot air drying. Natural drying (includes sun drying,
u
Jo

394 air drying and shade drying) is characterized by simple methods and equipment with

395 low production costs. The drying can be carried out in place of origin and also

396 promotes further physiological development of raw materials that are not yet fully

397 mature. But natural drying is affected by climate, and its drying cycle is longer, which

398 is easy to cause contamination problems. The nutrition loss can be high, and may not

399 reach the consistent quality standard. Zhang, Wang, Shi, and Pan (2016) investigated

400 the impacts of shade drying and oven drying on antioxidant activity and nutritional

401 quality of walnut male flowers (Juglans sigillata ‘Qianhe-7’). The shade-dried flowers
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402 showed lower contents of soluble sugars, fat, titratable acid, starch, total flavonoids,

403 total phenols and 15 amino acids, and antioxidant activity than oven-dried flowers. In

404 addition, natural drying is prone to dust, impurities, insects and other pollution and

405 birds, rodents, and other infections (Zhang, Bhandari, & Fang, 2017).

406 Compared with natural drying, hot air drying is unaffected by the climate (Afzal

407 & Abe, 1999). But hot air drying also has disadvantages, the major one is exposure of

f
408 the produce at high temperature for longer time (Laguerre, Tauzin, & Grenier, 1999).

oo
409 It is easy to damage nutritional properties and visual appearance lowering the quality

410
pr
of foods (Reyes et al., 2010). Sirithon, Onanong, and Meeso (2012) reported that hot
e-
411 air drying obtained the lowest DPPH radical scavenging (52.4%), lowest amount of
Pr

412 total flavonoid, and the lower total phenolic content (43.6 mg GAE/g DW) of

413 marigold powder product, compared to the fresh sample and dried samples obtained
al

414 from other drying techniques. Bae and Lee (2008) investigated the impact of drying
rn

415 temperature (40 ℃, 50 ℃, and 60 ℃, respectively) on the volatile compounds of

u

416 Chrysanthemum boreale M. flowers using a hot air dryer. With the increase of drying
Jo

417 temperature, the Hunter color b- and L-values of flowers were decreased.

418 Among various drying processes, natural drying, such as sun drying and air

419 drying, are the most economical, simple and convenient drying process. Artificial

420 drying can be divided into air convection drying, contact drying, vacuum drying,

421 radiation drying and freeze drying according to the different drying media used and

422 heat transfer modes. Modern drying technology adopts new drying equipment and

423 more advanced drying technology, especially freeze drying and microwave drying
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424 which greatly improves the quality of products(Siresha & Reddy, 2016; Zheng, Xia, Lu,

425 2015). Because the drying temperature of freeze drying and microwave drying is low,

426 the loss of nutrients and aroma components of flowers are small, and the quality of

427 processed products is greatly improved.

428 4.2.1 Microwave drying

429 Microwave is a kind of high frequency electromagnetic wave with frequency

f
oo
430 ranging from 300 MHz to 300 kMHz. The wave length is 1 m to 1 mm. It has the

431 heating effect of dielectric induction constantly changing direction in space through

432
pr
the high frequency electric field. The polar molecules in materials vibrate with
e-
433 electromagnetic wave at high frequency, thus generating heat. During microwave
Pr

434 heating, the external temperature will be slightly lower than the internal

435 temperature due to evaporation of external water, thus greatly increasing the drying
al

436 rate (Yan et al., 2010).

rn

437 Water is a bipolar molecule, with a very strong polarity, so they vibrate and
u
Jo

438 generate a lot of heat during the microwave drying process. The higher the water

439 content, the stronger the microwave absorption capacity. Microwave can also reduce

440 the affinity between water molecules, especially the bound water and the material

441 molecules. Thus, the water molecules can be easily dissociated from the material

442 molecules and diffused outwards. While, the material itself can absorb less

443 microwave and keep relatively at low temperature, it can better maintain the

444 functional components, avoid browning and reduce drying duration (Jeni, Yapa, &

445 Rattanadecho, 2010).

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446 Ding and others (2012) investigated the drying kinetics of fresh buds of day lily

447 at microwave powers of 60 W, 120 W, 180 W and 240 W. During microwave

448 treatment, when the moisture content of product was higher than 6.8 g /g, the

449 energy utilization efficiency was basically the same at all microwave output power

450 levels, however, when the moisture content of product was lower than 6.8 g /g,

451 drying at higher microwave levels was more effective in energy utilization.

f
452 Chunfang et al. (2011) evaluated the effects of different vacuum pressure (0.10

oo
453 MPa and 0.08 MPa) and microwave power (200, 225, 250, 275 and 300 W) on quality

454 pr
of dried rose. The results showed that with microwave power increasing, the drying
e-
455 time was decreased significantly. After comprehensive consideration of drying time,
Pr

456 temperature, shape change, and color of dried rose, the microwave vacuum drying

457 process with vacuum of 0.10 MPa, microwave power of 200 W and drying time of 80
al

458 minutes was optimal drying method compared with hot air drying.
rn

459 Dong, Ma, Fu, and Guo (2011) studied the effects of microwave drying and
u

460 traditional drying methods from the perspective of eucommia male flower tea quality.
Jo

461 The effects of different time duration and microwave output power on the functional

462 components of aucubin, flavonoids, geniposidic acid, and chlorogenic acid in the tea

463 were measured and compared with fresh flowers. Based on the results of sensory

464 evaluation, the suggested output power of microwave was 560 W, and the optimal

465 duration time was 2-3 min. By comparison, after drying by microwave, the sensory

466 quality of eucommia male flower tea was better, the tea liquor was fresh with strong

467 aroma of eucommia male flower, the stamens shape of the flowers was complete,

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468 and the color was greenish. The contents of aucubin, chlorogenic acid and total

469 flavonoids were high in samples treated by the output power of 560 W.

470 Similar study was undertaken by Li, Liu, and Guo (2015) with Magnolia liliflora

471 samples using different drying techniques (microwave drying, hot-air drying, sun

472 drying and shade drying). Compared to the other drying techniques microwave

473 drying could effectually lower moisture content in shortest time in the order of

f
474 microwave drying > hot air drying > sun drying > shade drying. In addition, treatment

oo
475 of hot air drying (50 ℃), microwave drying (900 W) and shade drying showed the

476 pr
higher levels of polyphenols, flavonoids contents and antioxidant activities, whereas
e-
477 treatment of microwave drying (900 W) showed the highest level of antioxidant
Pr

478 activity. In conclusion, microwave drying was the best drying method.

479 Although microwave drying can reduce drying duration, maintain functional
al

480 components, the visual qualities of dried flowers can be poor, due to exposure to
rn

481 microwaves directly which may result in charring and tissue damages. For delicate
u

482 flowers that may fall apart when dried like carnation, dahlia, roses etc., desiccant
Jo

483 treatment is a useful and helpful method. Silica gel is an ideal desiccant which can

484 protect flowers from damages of microwave (Safeena & Patil, 2014).

485 Safeena and Patil (2014) reported the drying of four varieties of Dutch rose

486 flowers (viz. Lambada, Skyline, First Red and Ravel) in microwave oven for different

487 duration (2.0, 2.5, 3.0 minutes) , with and without embedding in silica gel. Superior

488 quality parameters such as color (3.48), texture (3.29) and appearance (3.51) were

489 obtained in flowers dried with embedding in silica gel for 2.5 minutes. The results

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490 also exhibited that cv. ‘Lambada’ flower embedded in silica gel and dried for 2.5

491 minutes, showed best quality parameters, viz., color (2.53), texture (2.41),

492 appearance (2.56), moisture loss (66.23%) and dry weight (3.22 g/flower).

493 After embedding two carnation cultivars (viz. Cano and Kristina) in desiccant

494 silica gel, the flowers were dried by microwave oven at 1200 W (Biswas & Dhua,

495 2010). With the increase of duration from 2 to 4 minutes, the percent loss in

f
496 moisture content, carotene contents and diameter of flower petal were increased.

oo
497 The sensory scores of Kristina [texture (3.38), colour (3.47) and appearance (3.42)]

498 pr
were higher than Cano [texture (2.81), colour (3.31) and appearance (3.08)], after
e-
499 the flowers were embedded in silica gel and dried in microwave for 2 minutes. The
Pr

500 results demonstrated that microwave for 2 minutes gave best dried effect on

501 Carnation.
al

502 4.2.2 Freeze drying

rn

503 Freeze drying, also called lyophilization, is a multistage operation that changes
u
Jo

504 the moisture in raw materials from solid state to gaseous state by means of

505 sublimation under vacuum conditions after food is pre-frozen. Freeze drying involves

506 three separate processes, freezing process, sublimation process (primary drying) and

507 vacuum evaporation of unfrozen water (secondary drying) (Chen, Gast, & Smithey,

508 2000). Due to the relatively slow drying process and intensive energy requirements in

509 the primary and secondary drying processes, freeze drying is a very expensive

510 process as compared to other drying processes (Chan et al., 2009). Because of its

511 high cost, it is the drying method practiced for high market value products such as
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512 pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, biotechnological products, and foods with high

513 nutrition and market values (Sadikoglu, Ozdemir, & Seker, 2006). Generally, freeze

514 drying minimizes the loss of flavor and flavor compounds as well as bio-active

515 components and reduces material shrinkage (Antal, Chong, Law, & Sikolya, 2014).

516 It is reported that the most effective way to preserve flowers is by freeze drying

517 (Siresha & Reddy, 2016). Compared with other drying techniques, freeze drying can

f
518 remove moisture from flowers and better preserve the original shape, texture and

oo
519 color of flowers. According to Xu et al. (2010), freeze-drying is a better alternative

520 pr
than vacuum-drying, in which the concentration of tannin or phenolic glycosides and
e-
521 secondary compounds do not change.
Pr

522 Chen, Gast, and Smithey (2000) evaluated the effects of freezing temperature

523 (-35 ºC), freezing time (2 and 4 hours), and different vacuum drying temperature
al

524 (27ºC, 37ºC, 47 ºC at 30-50 µm Hg) on moisture content in stems and petals of
rn

525 carnations and roses. Results have shown that lower vacuum d rying temperatures
u

526 resulted in flowers quality closer to fresh flowers.

Jo

527 Sirithon, Onanong, and Meeso (2012) studied the freeze drying treatment of

528 marigold flower Tagetes erecta L by freezing them at -40 ℃ and drying under a

529 vacuum pressure of 140 Pa for 48 hours. The results showed that the highest content

530 of lutein (the major carotenoid of marigold flower) were found in freeze drying

531 samples, reaching 283.2 mg/100 g DW, more than 5 times higher than that of fresh

532 petals and the petals had a 7.6% (w/w) moisture.

533 Day lily flowers were freeze dried by a lyophilizer for 12 hours and hot air dried

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534 at 55 °C for 24 hours (Mao, Pan, Que, & Fang, 2006).The results found ethanol

535 extracts of freeze dried day lily flowers having higher phenol content and antioxidant

536 activity. The content of phenolic compounds in freeze dried flowers was 160.42 mg/g

537 while, in hot air dried flowers it was 97.91 mg/g.

538 Similar study was undertaken by Que, Mao, and Zheng (2007) with day lily

539 flowers. Antioxidant activities of ethanol and water extracts prepared from freeze

f
540 dried and hot air dried flowers were measured. The antioxidant activity of ethanol

oo
541 extracts in freeze dried flowers was a little higher than that in hot air dried flowers.

542 pr
Superoxide anion scavenging activity from freeze dried flowers exhibited higher
e-
543 activity than other extracts.
Pr

544 Visalakshi, Jawaharlal, and Thirupathi (2015) investigated the impact of freeze

545 drying on physiological characteristics and sensory quality of different flowers (orchid,
al

546 rose, carnation, chrysanthemum and jasmine). They found that the light colored
rn

547 flowers retained color values to that of dark flowers. The jasmine and pink carnation
u

548 recorded the best percentage of water loss due to freeze drying, at the same time
Jo

549 preserving the shape and color and without influencing the pigment concentration.

550 Acar, Sadikoglu, and Ozkaymak (2011) studied the quality parameters of

551 commercial saffron (Crocus sativus L.) by freeze and natural sun drying methods, and

552 compared contents of safranal and crocin in dried stigma of saffron. The sarfanal

553 contents of freeze dried samples were found to be five times higher than that of sun

554 dried samples, and the crocin contents of freeze dried samples were about 40%

555 higher than that of sun dried samples. The final freeze-dried commercial saffron

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556 contained lower moisture compared with sun-dried saffron. Thus, the original shape

557 and structure of the stigma sample could be preserved during the freeze-drying

558 process.

559 Zheng, Xia, and Lu (2015) studied the impact of different drying techniques

560 (freeze drying, microwave drying, vacuum drying and hot-air drying) on the contents

561 of active compounds in loquat flower, in order to select an appropriate drying

f
562 method and process for a high-quality loquat tea. They found that water soluble

oo
563 compounds levels (caffeine, total flavonoids, total polyphenols, triterpene acids, free

564 pr
amino acid) in tea dried with freeze drying process were the highest compared to the
e-
565 samples obtained from other drying methods, because of low temperature and
Pr

566 vacuum environment used in former method. In their results although freeze drying

567 had taken the longest time, it had the least impact on the active ingredients and
al

568 retained the original aroma, color and shape of flowers to the greatest extent.
rn

569 Even though the initial investment and operation costs are high, the high cost of
u

570 freeze drying can be compensated by numerous advantages of dried flowers in terms
Jo

571 of quality, storage costs, transportation and shelf-life of flower.

572 4.2.3 Hybrid drying

573 For the purpose of reducing operating expenses, improving overall efficiency

574 and the quality of dried materials, the techniques involving combination of two or

575 more processing unit operations or drying systems have attracted attention in recent

576 years (Atuonwu, Van Straten, Van Deventer, & Van Boxtel, 2013).

577 Ultrasound (US) is a type of sound energy transmitted by waves in the form of
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578 pressure at frequencies of 20 kHz and above (Witrowa-Rajchert, Wiktor, Sledz, &

579 Nowacka, 2014; Mothibe, Zhang, Nsor-Atindana, & Wang, 2011). US drying

580 technology is an emerging technology with broad application prospects (Xin, Zhang,

581 & Adhikari, 2013; Islam, Zhang, & Adhikari, 2014). US can be easily used together

582 with traditional drying methods, for instance hot air drying. The drying principle in

583 the US is based on mechanical mechanism, and less on heating mechanism, which

f
584 can decrease the drying time without obvious heating of materials (Puig,

oo
585 Perez-Munuera, Carcel, Hernando, & Garcia-Perez, 2012; Cheng, Zhang, Adhikari, &

586 pr
Islam, 2014; Lagnika, Zhang, & Mothibe, 2013). Liu et al. (2015) studied the drying
e-
587 characteristics of flos lonicerae applying US assisted hot air drying. Using different
Pr

588 temperatures (40, 50, 60 and 70 ℃) and US powers (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 W) at a US

589 radiation distances of 10 cm, 20 cm and 30 cm, respectively. The results showed
al

590 combination of US and hot air can improve the drying rate and ultrasonic energy
rn

591 efficiency when compared with the hot air drying alone. With the decrease of
u

592 moisture content in the drying process, the effect of ultrasonic power on the drying
Jo

593 rate was decreased, especially at low ultrasound power.

594 Far-infrared radiation (FIR) generates internal heat of the material through

595 molecular vibration, which brings out excited vibration when the molecules absorb

596 radiation of certain energy and wavelength. Therefore, drying materials directly

597 absorb electromagnetic energy, reducing energy loss. In a study in which

598 chrysanthemi flos flowers were dried in a far-infrared dryer with three temperature

599 levels (40, 50, and 60 °C)and the volatile oil content and antioxidant activity were

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600 determined (Bae, Na, Seo, & Lee, 2009). With the increase of drying temperature,

601 the antioxidant activities of the extracts were decreased. The highest volatile oil

602 contents of dried flowers were obtained by drying them at 40 °C. The highest

603 luteonin content was obtained at 60 °C. Combined FIR and hot air convection drying

604 (FIR-HA) has been successfully applied for the drying of food materials (Meeso, 2008),

605 such as garlic, rice, mulberry, barley, onion, and other agricultural products, for the

f
606 purpose of improving product quality while increasing energy efficiency (Wanyo,

oo
607 Siriamornpun, & Meeso, 2011). Sirithon et al. (2012) investigated the bioactive

608 pr
compounds of marigold dried using combined drying technology using HA
e-
609 temperature of 40 ℃and FIR intensity of 5 kW/m2 for a drying time of 60 min. The
Pr

610 results indicated that FIR-HA provided the higher values of lycopene and lutein

611 compared with result of FIR or hot air drying alone. The highest contents of
al

612 protocatechuic, syringic, caffeic, and ferulic acid in all dried samples of marigold were
rn

613 also achieved. This demonstrated that FIR-HA could be an appropriate drying
u

614 technology for marigold flower.

Jo

615 Microwave-assisted freeze drying (MFD), a rapid dehydration technology, can be

616 accomplished by freeze drying assisted concurrently with microwave application

617 (Duan, Zhang, Li, & Mujumdar, 2010). Compared to conventional freeze drying

618 technology, MFD benefits with energy saving, time saving and improved product

619 quality. Currently, MFD have been used to few categories of vegetable products,

620 fruits, solid soup and seafood (Rui, Min, & Mujumdar, 2010; Wang, Zhang, Mujumdar,

621 & Jiang, 2011). However, there are no reports on the processing of edible flowers so

28
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622 this technology could also be tested for producing dried flowers (Duan, Zhang, Li, &

623 Mujumdar, 2008; Wang, Zhang, Mujumdar, & Sun, 2009; Wang, Zhang, & Mujumdar,

624 2010).

625 5 Bioactive compounds in edible flowers

626 Bioactive compounds, which impart positive health and physiological effects in

627 human, includes carotenoids, dietary fibers, flavonoids, phenolic acids,

f
oo
628 isothiocyanates, sterols, prebiotics (inulin) etc. Edible flowers contain many of these

629 bioactive compounds (Mlcek & Rop, 2011). The extraction of these compounds and

630
pr
their encapsulation technologies are described in the following sections.
e-
631 5.1 Extraction of bioactive compounds
Pr

632 Nowadays, the most common extraction technique is organic solvent extraction.
al

633 However, solvent extraction is time-consuming because the natural structure of the
rn

634 plant is resistant to many liquid penetrations. Therefore, there are plenty of rooms
u

635 for improvement. In order to improve the process capability and enhance solvent
Jo

636 extraction, Amor and Allaf (2009) proposed treatment methods with

637 thermomechanical transient control pressure drop (DIC) to ensure the expansion of

638 plant structure. The results showed that DIC method improved the effective diffusion

639 rate of anthocyanin extraction and increased yield of anthocyanins in rose calyces.

640 Conventional organic solvent extraction has many limitations, such as long extraction

641 times and high consumption of hazardous chemicals (Murador, de Souza Mesquita,

642 Vannuchi, Braga, & de Rosso, 2019; Tiwari, 2015). Besides, the quality of the

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643 extracted compounds by organic solvent method is also lower. Therefore, we need to

644 apply new and green separation technologies, such as supercritical fluid extraction,

645 microwave-assisted extraction, ultrasonic-assisted extraction and other extraction

646 technologies.

647 5.1.1 Supercritical fluid extraction

648 Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) provides several operational advantages over

f
oo
649 conventional extraction methods, because it uses supercritical solvents, with

650 different physicochemical properties, such as density, diffusivity, viscosity, and

651
pr
dielectric constant (Rui, Rocha-Santos, & Duarte, 2016). A substance goes into
e-
652 supercritical state, when it is forced to a pressure and temperature above the critical
Pr

653 point. Due to the low viscosity and relatively high diffusivity of the supercritical fluid,

654 it has a stronger transport performance than the liquid, and is more easily diffused in
al

655 the solid material, which ultimately increase the extraction speed. Compared with
rn

656 traditional extraction technology, SFE, not only reduces the consumption of toxic
u
Jo

657 solvents, but also has better selectivity (Płotkawasylka, Rutkowska, Owczarek,

658 Tobiszewski, & Namieśnik, 2017). CO2 is the most common supercritical solvent

659 because of its many advantages, such as, cheap, non-toxic and convenient in

660 operation. It has been reported that from 2000 to 2013, in more than 300 plant

661 materials, the use of supercritical CO 2 to extract flower bioactive substances

662 accounted for only 5% (Duba & Fiori, 2015). Extraction of bioactive substances from

663 edible flowers with supercritical fluids has not been widely developed. Supercritical

664 CO2 extraction has been used to maximize the extraction of several phytochemical
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665 compounds from H.sabdariffa calyces (Pimentel-Moral et al., 2019). Compared with

666 aqueous and ethanol extraction, supercritical CO2 extraction separate bioactive

667 substances more effectively from Lonicera japonica Thunberg (Hsu et al., 2016).

668 Another study investigated the effects of operating conditions of supercritical CO2

669 extraction on the yield and content of eugenol in the extract of clove leaf by-products

670 (Frohlich et al., 2018). Since CO 2 is non-polar, CO2 supercritical fluids require the

f
671 addition of small quantity of co-solvents for the extraction of polar substances. For

oo
672 instance, in one study, supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with ethanol as a co-solvent

673 pr
was used to extract gallic acid and quercetin from Macela flowers (Hatami, Cavalcanti,
e-
674 Takeuchi, & Meireles, 2012). Daraee, Ghoreishi, and Hedayati (2018) used ethanol as
Pr

675 a cosolvent to extract chlorogenic acid from sunflower seeds by supercritical CO2.

676 Another analysis was about the application of supercritical CO2 in the extraction of
al

677 bioactive compounds from sunflower (Helianthusannuus L.). The result proved that
rn

678 the addition of 5% methanol, water or dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) as a modifier can
u

679 increase the efficiency of extraction (Casas et al., 2007). Examples of supercritical
Jo

680 extraction of target substances from edible flowers are shown in Table. 1.

681 Subcritical water is also called superheated water, high-pressure hot water or

682 hot liquid water. Its physical and chemical properties are quite different from those of

683 water at room temperature and normal pressure. In the subcritical state, with the

684 increase of temperature, the hydrogen bond of the subcritical water is opened or

685 weakened, thus making the water high enough to be extracted out. In this way, by

686 controlling the temperature and pressure, the polarity of the water can be changed

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687 in a wide range, so as to cause continuous extraction of the effective components in

688 natural products from water-soluble components to fat-soluble components, and

689 cause selective extraction (Yu, And, & Miller, 1997). Subcritical water extraction has

690 been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. There exist some extraction

691 examples in edible flowers by subcritical water. For instances, subcritical water

692 treatment was used to extract flavonoids from cole pollen. This treatment was also

f
693 applied to polyphenolic of chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) which showed the

oo
694 influence of the extraction temperature on polyphenolic profiles and bioactivity

695 (Cvetanović et al., 2019). pr

e-
696 5.1.2 Microwave-assisted extraction
Pr

697 Microwave-assisted extraction is the process of extracting natural products from

698 plant material by heating the plant material with microwave energy or by contacting
al

699 the moisture present in the solvent (Meghal Desai, Jigisha Parikh, & Parikh, 2010). Its
rn

700 two most prominent advantages are effective internal heating and a great ability to
u
Jo

701 shorten the reaction time (Leonelli & Mason, 2010). Microwave technology is also

702 widely used in the extraction of bioactive substances from edible flowers. Kapadiya,

703 Parikh, and Desai (2018) used microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) technology to

704 separate volatile oil from lilac buds, which improved the content and quality of

705 essential oils, and the process was green and environmental friendly. Another study

706 used microwave-assisted extraction of bioactive compounds from Hibiscus sabdariffa.

707 The result showed that the temperature and solvent concentration are potential

708 factors in MAE for obtaining bioactive compounds, and the best extraction condition
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709 found was 164 ℃ for 12.5 min with 45% ethanol (Pimentel-Moral et al., 2018).

710 Similarly, essential oil from leaves of Cymbopogon flexuosus (Steud) was more

711 effectively and rapidly extracted by MAE. In case of extracting the same amount of

712 essential oil, Hydrodistillation (HD) required 90 min to treat 50 g of plant material

713 with an energy consumption of 0.75 kWh while MAE was complete in 45 min by

714 treating 100 g of plant material and using 0.6375 kWh energy (Desai & Parikh, 2012).

f
715 Another study compared the ultrasonic assisted extraction (UAE) and the

oo
716 microwave assisted extraction (MAE) of essential oil from the residue of Kushui rose.

717 pr
The optimal UAE time and temperature were 17 min and 59 ℃to obtain a higher yield
e-
718 of proanthocyanidins of 96.94 mg/g from fresh rose flowers while the optimal MAE
Pr

719 time and temperature were 44 s and 61 ℃ to obtain a higher yield of

720 proanthocyanidins of 100.81 mg/g. The result showed that microwave-assisted

al

721 extraction showed better extraction efficiency (Xu, Li, Bi, Si, & Li, 2018). In addition,
rn

722 there are examples of microwaves-assisted extraction combined with other

u

723 technologies (Da Porto & Natolino, 2018; Pimentel-Moral et al., 2018). Compared
Jo

724 with raw powdered jasmine flower without methanol soaking, the bioactive

725 compounds of jasmine was extracted more efficiently by microwave-assisted water

726 distillation (MAHD) after soaking into methanol solution for 1 hour (Rassem, Nour, &

727 Yunus, 2018).

728 5.1.3 Ultrasound-assisted extraction

729 The application of ultrasonic energy can cause the instantaneous formation and

730 collapse of cavitation bubbles, and the instantaneous generation of high pressure
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731 and temperature, because of which, the process of cell wall destruction was

732 accelerated and the extraction time was shortened (Wen et al., 2018). Ultrasonic

733 technology can be applied to variety of aspects in food industries, such as processing,

734 preservation and extraction (Farid, Zill-e-Huma, & Muhammed, 2011).

735 Da Porto and Natolino (2018) used different techniques to extract total

736 polyphenols and anthocyanins from the by-products of saffron, and ultrasonic

f
737 extraction was proved to be the most effective technique from the perspective of

oo
738 kinetics. Heat and ultrasound-assisted extraction methods were also applied to

739 pr
recover anthocyanins from Hibiscus sabdariffa calyces (Pinela et al., 2019). Alexandru,
e-
740 Cravotto, Giordana, Binello, and Chemat (2013) reported the crude extract with more
Pr

741 yield and higher total phenolic content from dried clove buds by using flow UAE

742 method. Saffron not only has abundant nutrients but also has the ability to absorb
al

743 heavy metal ion. Khoshsang and Ghaffarinejad (2018) discovered that saffron can
rn

744 also be acted as a green adsorbent which can effectively remove lead toxic ions from
u

745 aqueous solutions through ultrasound. Bioactive compounds of blue butterfly pea
Jo

746 flower were also successfully extracted by ultrasound-assisted extraction (Mehmood

747 et al., 2019). Some researchers used ionic liquid-based ultrasonic-assisted extraction

748 (IL-UAE) to extract and separate the isochlorogenic acid C (ICGA) from a cultivar of

749 Chrysanthemum morifolium (Jiang, Ning, & Li, 2018). The result demonstrated in this

750 system as rapid, convenient and effective. It should be emphasized that the

751 application of ultrasound energy could be regarded as an efficient alternative as a

752 means of extracting bioactive substances from edible flowers and their by-products.

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753 More examples of MAE and UAE of target substances from edible flowers are shown

754 in Table. 2.

755 5.1.4 Other extraction methods

756 There are other novel extraction methods. The high voltage pulsed electric field

757 treats liquid, semi-solid foods with higher electric field strength, shorter pulse width

758 and higher pulse frequency. This is a new type of non-thermal food sterilization

f
oo
759 technology that can also be used to extract natural active substances. Pulsed electric

760 field (PEF) assisted extraction is becoming one of the ideal methods for extraction

761
pr
because of its continuous operability, non-heating and no need for chemical
e-
762 participation (Goettel, Eing, Gusbeth, Straessner, & Frey, 2013). For instance, Stevia
Pr

763 rebaudiana Bertoni contains polyphenols, chlorophyll and carotenoids, which can be

764 extracted by pulsed electric field for the production of nutritious foods and
al

765 functional foods (Bursać et al., 2018). PEF is a non-thermal strengthening method
rn

766 which can improve the extraction rate of sunflower oil (Shorstkii, Mirshekarloo, &
u
Jo

767 Koshevoi, 2015). Another study has shown that PEF is suitable for destroying the

768 structure of edible plant cells and extracting juice from plant tiss ues (Vorobiev et al.,

769 2005). Although PFE has fewer application in extracting bioactive ingredients from

770 edible flowers, this technology is promising. In addition moderate electric field (MEF)

771 has applied to extract different kinds of compositions in food industry. This method

772 minimizes the electrochemical reaction in the MEF process and improves the quality

773 of the extract, requires both process conditions and raw material specifications.

774 Therefore, more targeted research is needed to improve the design of MEF to extract
35
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775 bioactive substances more effectively and safely (Gavahian, Chu, & Sastry, 2018)

776 Besides, Mehraj et al. (2018) showed that there was a significant difference in

777 the results of protein extraction from saffron by gel electrophoresis using different

778 buffers. The number of proteins extracted with NP-40 buffer was the most and the

779 pollution potential was the least. Gel electrophoresis described in this study can be

780 widely applied to protein extraction of leaves and flowers . In addition, high-speed

f
781 counter current chromatography is also a common method for separation and

oo
782 extraction of active ingredients, such as separation and purification of polyphenols

783 pr
from white peony (Shu et al., 2014). In another study，polyphenols and lutein in
e-
784 marigold (Tageteserecta L.) flowers were extracted and enriched by an
Pr

785 enzyme-assisted ethanol/ammonium sulfate system. The active material extracted by

786 this technique has a higher yield and a higher antioxidant capacity (Fu, Zhang, Deng,
al

787 & Dang, 2019). As for the enrichment of active substances, ultrafiltration membrane
rn

788 and nanofiltration membrane were selected to concentrate anthocyanin from

u

789 hibiscus extracts. The result showed that ultrafiltration and nanofiltration were ideal
Jo

790 processes for extracting anthocyanin extracts at low temperatures (Cisse, Vaillant,

791 Pallet, & Dornier, 2011).

792 Gavahian and Chu (2018) provided a new extraction method using ohmic

793 accelerated steam distillation (OASD) to extract essential oil from lavender.

794 Compared with conventional steam distillation(SD), OASD takes advantage of ohmic

795 heating, as a volumetric heating method to accelerate extraction time. Additionally

796 OASD has no adverse effects on valuable compounds of lavender volatile oil including

36
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797 Linalool, 1,8-cineole and camphor. Besides, Ohmic-assisted hydrodistillation (OAHD)

798 is a combination of ohmic heating and distillation. Gavahian et al. (2011) used OAHD

799 and HD to extract essential oils from Zataria multiflora Boiss. The result suggested

800 that OAHD method can shorten the extraction time and save a lot of energy when

801 the two methods obtained similar compositions.

802 Considering the species of flowers and the relevant tissues, selecting the most

f
803 suitable extraction method can guarantee the the yield and quality

oo
804 of extractive. Take saffron as an example, several techniques mentioned above can

805 pr
be used to extract its bioactive compounds, the advantages and disadvantages of
e-
806 various extraction methods employed in saffron compartments are listed in Figure
Pr

807 2. The most appropriate method should be selected according to the production

808 target.
al

809 5.2 Encapsulation of bioactive compound

rn

810 Most functional foods or nutraceuticals are marketed in the form of

u
Jo

811 microcapsules, nutraceutical oils, and emulsifiers in beverages (Ran, Zhang, Wang, &

812 Adhikari, 2019). Bioactive compounds are usually encapsulated in some materials

813 because these substances extracted from by-products are easily deactivated.

814 Micro-encapsulation is a common means of protection of sensitive compounds.

815 Microcapsules are miniature containers or packages with polymer walls.

816 Microcapsule granulation technology that embeds solid, liquid or gas in a

817 microcapsule to become a solid particle product. Microcapsules have the advantage

818 of protecting the active substance and controlling its release. Thus, we need a
37
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819 protective technology to stabilize bioactive substances (Desai, Kashappa, & Park,

820 2005). In one study, anthocyanins were microencapsulated by lyophilization. The

821 morphology of the product was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The yield,

822 and encapsulation efficiency of the product were improved (Rodrigues, Santos,

823 Bergamasco, & Madrona, 2017). These researchers found that microencapsulation

824 can effectively protect monomer anthocyanins and phenolic compounds . Another

f
825 study focused on the preparation of anthocyanins from hibiscus flowers into particles

oo
826 by ion gel method. This method could control the release of anthocyanin particles ,

827 pr
which can be applied to jelly particle polymerization (de Moura et al., 2019).
e-
828 The alginate of dandelion (Taraxacumofficinale L.) polyphenols and β-carotene
Pr

829 are also encapsulated by ionic gelatinized microcapsules with the addition of whey

830 protein to preserve the spherical nature of the microbeads (Belščakcvitanović et al.,
al

831 2016). In addition, silvernano-particle is also one of the current research hotspots. It
rn

832 has been studied to reduce the silver nitrate to silvernano-particles by using the
u

833 extract of Portulaca oleraceaas a reducing agent and stabilizer (Patil et al., 2018). This
Jo

834 is a simple and environmental method for preparing silver nanoparticles in one step.

835 As a kind of antibacterial agent, the synthesized silver nanoparticles have a broad

836 application prospect.

837 6. Concluding remarks

838 Edible flowers in their fresh form are very much perishable due to higher

839 moisture content. Therefore, processing of edible flowers by different methods are of

840 paramount importance of today’s world to extend the shelf-life. Drying by hot air has

38
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841 been practiced since ancient times, which shows many disadvantages of long time

842 required of drying, high energy consumption, nutrition loss, etc. Novel drying

843 technologies have been developed and are in practice to overcome these traditional

844 drying methods. Moreover, extraction of bioactive compounds by the use of novel

845 technologies were also reported since long time, with each method having many

846 advantages and disadvantages. There is no ideal method to dry edible flowers and to

f
847 extract bioactive compounds. The choice of method depends on the resources

oo
848 available, quality of end product consumer demand and selling price of end product.

849 pr
Therefore, a compromise between the quality and price of the product determines
e-
850 the choice of the technology.
Pr

851 Acknowledgments

852 We acknowledge the financial support from China Key Research Programs
al

853 (Contract No. 2017YFD0400901 and No. 2017YFD0400501), Jiangsu Province Key
rn

854 Laboratory Project of Advanced Food Manufacturing Equipment and Technology (No.
u

855 FMZ201803), National First-class Discipline Program of Food Science and Technology
Jo

856 (No. JUFSTR 20180205), all of which enabled us to carry out this study.

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storage time on nutritional quality and antioxidant activity of walnut male

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1372 Table 1 Some representative studies of supercritical technologies to extract bioactive

1373 compounds from edible flowers

al

Sources Target Process condition Key findings Reference

rn

compounds
Hibiscus Tota l phenolic 15-35 MPa The hi ghest phytochemical (Pimentel-Moral
u

sabdariffa a nd organic 40-60 ℃ extra ct content: 113 ± 1 mg/g et al., 2018b)

a ci ds 90 mi nutes process condition: 50 ℃, 25 Mpa
Jo

a nd 16.7% ethanol
Ma cel a Ga l lic acid a nd 20-30 Mpa The best extraction condition: (Hatami et al.,
fl owers quercetin 30-45 ℃ 30 ℃a nd 30 MPa 2012)

Sunflower Chl orogenic 10-30 MPa Opti mum recovery of chlorogenic (Daraee et al.,
s eed a ci d 40-80 ℃ a ci d process condition: 17.9 MPa , 2018)
40–120 mi n 40.0 °C, 104.6 mi n
Syzygium Eugenol 15, 18.5 a nd 22 MPa The hi ghest yi eld eugenol (Frohlich et al.,
aromaticum 40, 50 a nd 60 ℃ content: 1.08wt% 2018)
process condition: 40 °C a nd 22
MPa

Lonicera Pol yphenols 15, 25 a nd 35 MPa The extra ction yi eld around 10% (Hsu et al., 2016)
japonica a nd flavonoids 45 ℃ (Cha nges i n s tress had little
Thunberg i mpact on yi eld.)

51
 Journal Pre-proof

Helianthus Bi oactivecomp 10-50 MPa The best extraction yi eld process (Casas et al.,
annuusL ounds 35-50 ℃ condi tion: 50 ℃a nd 50 MPa wi th 2007)
a 5% wa ter as a modifier.
Polianthes Methyl eugenol 10, 30, 50 MPa The bes t extra ction yield: 4.88 ± (Ghosh &
tuberosa L 40, 50 a nd 60 ℃ 0.08 mg methyl eugenol Bhattacharjee,
45, 75 a nd 135 mi n process condi tion: 30 MPa , 135 2016)
mi n a nd 50 ℃

Cha momile Vol a tile oils 20 MPa The product under this process (Vuorela, Holm,
fl owerheads 40 ℃ condi tion: 20% volatile oil Hiltunen,
5-6 h Harvala, &
Laitinen, 2010)

Tea fl owers Vol a tile oils 10-30 MPa ; 40-60 ℃ The best extraction condition: ( Chen, et al.,
Dyna mic ti me: 30 MPa , 50 ℃, 2013)

f
oo
50-90 mi n Dyna mic ti me: 90 mi n
Hel ichrys um Scopoletin 20 MPa The greatest extraction yi eld: (Jokić, Rajić,
i ta licum 40 ℃ 6.31% Bilić, & Molnar,

pr
The hi ghest yi eld of scopoletin:
1.933 mg/100 g
2016)
e-
1374
1375
Pr

1376 Table 2 Some representative studies of microwave assisted and/or ultrasiound assisted
1377 extraction to extract bioactive compounds from edible flowers
Sources Target Process condition Key findings References
compounds
al

Osmanthus Total Etha nol concentration The best extraction yi eld of TF ( Yu, et al.,
rn

fragrans fl a vonoids (40-60%) (7.86 mg/g) 2017)

fl owers Mi crowave extraction time process condition:
(5-7 mi n) Etha nol concentration 48.15%
u

Ul tra sonic extraction ti me Mi crowave extraction time

Jo

(8-12 mi n) 6.43mi n
Ul tra sonic power Ul tra sonic extraction ti me 10.09
(210-430w） mi n
Ul tra sonic power 370.9 W
Hibiscus Anthocya nins Etha nol concentration (39.1%) The best yield of a nthocyanins (Pinela et al.,
sabdariffa Ul tra sonic extraction (51.76 mg/g) 2018)
ca l yces Ti me (26.1min)
Ul tra sonic power
(296.6 W)
Hibiscus Phenoli c Etha nol concentration Etha nol concentration (45%) (Pimentel-Mo
sabdariffa compounds (15-75%) Mi crowave extraction time (12.5 ral et al.,
Mi crowave extraction time mi n) 2018)
(5-20 mi n) Mi crowave extraction
Mi crowave extraction Temperature (164 ℃)
Temperature (50-150 ℃)
52
 Journal Pre-proof

Dry clove Phenoli c Ul tra sonic extraction The hi ghest phenolic (Alexandru et
buds compounds Ti me (45 mi n) content (1350 mL/min) al., 2013)
Ul tra sonic power (360 W)
Cl ove buds Es s ential oil Mi crowave extraction time (30 The best yield of cl ove oil (Kapadiya et
mi n) (13.11% w/w) a nd eugenol al., 2018)
Mi crowave power content (11.93% w/w)
(600 W)
Amount of plant material
(30 g)
Vol ume of water (200 mL）
Osmanthus Anti oxidants Etha nol concentration (39.1%) The hi ghest trolox equivalent ( Li, Li, Li, Xu,
fragrans Ul tra sonic extraction ti me a nti oxidant capacity (486.4±12.6 & Li, 2016)
fl owers (35.2 mi n) µmol Trolox/g DW)

f
Ul tra sonic extraction

oo
temperature (59.4 ℃）
Lonicera chl orogenic Etha nol concentration (50%) The yi eld of chlorogenic acid (Zhang, Yang,
japonica
Thunb
a ci d Mi crowave extraction time
(5 mi n)
Mi crowave extraction
pr ra pi dly reaching 6.14% wi thin 5
mi n
& Liu, 2008)
e-
Temperature (60 ℃)
Ficuscarica ga l lic a cid, Ionic l iquid-based ultrasonic The hi ghest extraction yi elds of (Qin, Zhou,
Pr

L chl orogenic extra cti on ti me (45 mi n) phenoli c compounds (μg/0.1 g)： Peng, Li, &
a ci d, rutin, Ul tra sonic power ga l lic acid (12.67-37.16), Chen, 2015)
ps oralen, and (360 W) chl orogenic acid (14.75-90.07),
al

bergapten s ol id liquid ratio of 1:50 ruti n (107.91-222.37),

ps oralen (2.59-67.83),
rn

berga pten (1.99-20.21)

Citrus Fl a vonoids Etha nol concentration The ma ximum response value of ( Li, et al.,
u

aurantium (51.19%) yi el d (1.88%) 2015)

L. var Ul tra sonic extraction ti me
Jo

(51.89 mi n)
Ul tra sonic extraction
temperature (72.11 ℃）
ma ri gold Xnthophyll Ul tra sonic extraction ti me (30 The hi gh yi eld: more than 97% (Jing, Quan,
fl ower mi n) of contents & Yu, 2005)
Ul tra sonic power
(500W)
1∶ 25 for ra ti o of material to
l i quid
T. Pol ys accharid Ul tra sonic extraction ti me The hi ghest content of (Mu, Liu, &
amurensisfl es 30-90 mi n pol ysaccharides (9.74%) Ma, 2010)
owers. Ul tra sonic extraction Ul tra sonic extraction condition:
temperature (25-85 ℃) 75℃, 52mi n

1378
53
 Journal Pre-proof

1379 Figure 1 Morphology of some edible flowers: (1) Flossflower (Ageratum

1380 houstonianum), (2) Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus), (3) Wax begonia (Begonia
1381 semperflorens), (4) Star flower (Borago officinalis), (5) Pot marigold (Calendula
1382 officinalis), (6) Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus), (7) Fuchsia (Fuchsia hybrid), (8)
1383 Ivy Geranium (Pelargonium peltatum), (9) Petunia (Petunia × atkinsiana), (10)
1384 Mexican marigold (Tagetes erecta), (11) Garden Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus), (12)
1385 Pansy (Viola × wittrockiana). (Benvenuti, Bortolotti, & Maggini, 2016)
1386

1387 Figure 2 Advantages and disadvantages of various extraction methods employed

1388 in saffron compartments (Garavand, Rahaee, Vahedikia, & Jafari, 2019).

1389

f
oo
1390 Graphical abstract

1391 Highlights

1392 ●
pr
High hydrostatic pressure, modified atmosphere packaging, edible coatings, and
e-
1393 irradiation are among the emerging technologies to keep flower fresh.
Pr

1394 ● Microwave drying, freeze drying, and hybrid drying are among the novel
al

1395 drying technologies to maintain the optimal state of flower materials.

rn

1396 ● Some emerging technologies were found useful for efficient extraction of

1397 bioactive compounds.

u
Jo

54