Abstract: In order to study the food value of the flowers of Hibiscus syriacus L. to humans, the nutritional and functional components of the flesh petals of five lines of H. syriacus, H. syriacus?f. elegantissimus, H. syriacus?f. violaceu and H. syriacus f. albus-plenus, cultivated in Longquan, Zhejiang; and H. syriacus f. albus-plenus and H. syriacus?f. violaceu cultivated in Cangnan, Zhejiang, were analyzed. The results showed that the nutritional quality of H. syriacus. was lower than that of edible rose. The contents of general nutrients and mineral elements were consistent with or slightly higher in H. syriacus than in green vegetables, while the vitamin content was lower. There were 16 amino acids detected in H. isyriacus L., including 7 essential amino acids (EAA), with flavor amino acids accounting for 27.1%-41.84% of the total amino acids, which was higher than that of edible rose. The petals of H. isyriacus L. contained such health-protective components as polysaccharides, flavanoids and proanthocyanidins. The flowers of H. syriacus tasted good and had high nutritional value. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that there existed significant difference in nutritional value among five lines of H. syriacus L. and the nutritional value of H. syriacus?f. violaceu from both areas was the highest. Consequently, H. syriacus f. violaceus has the potential to be developed into a functional food.

Key words: Hibiscus syriacus L., edible flower, nutrient composition, nutritional quality evaluation