Pawan Kr Mahour

Besides the popular edible flowers, various types of flowers are used as food items across the world. Several flower dishes are prepared in various places, as these edible flowers are rich in many nutritional properties and are also used for medicinal purposes in some places. These edible flowers can be obtained from small plants or large trees, but their usefulness is limited to certain regions. Unfortunately, people in other areas are unaware of the benefits of these edible flowers. A few edible flowering plants are discussed below for their nutritional importance and place of availability.

Red cotton tree

The scientific name of the tree is Bombax ceiba, and it belongs to the family Bombacaceae. The tree is also known as the Malabar silk-cotton tree or Semal. It is found in China, Taiwan, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, etc. The flowers of the tree are boiled, cooked and eaten as a vegetable (semal ke phulo ki kali ki sabji). The flowers contain B-D-glucoside…read more on NOPR