Nutrients content of Bauhinia variegata var.candida and its value as an edible wild flower

Bauhinia variegata var.candida belongs to Caesalpiniaceae family and distributes in southern China,Laos,Myanmar and Thailand.Its flower is used by the indigenous people in the tropical and sub-tropical region of Yunnan Province as an edible wild vegetable.The phenology of B. vaariegata var.candida were recorded from 1981 to 2002,the main nutrients in the flower of B. variegata var.candida were tested and compared with those in the flower of Hemerocallis citrina at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden,the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XTBG).The contents of P,K,Na,Ca,Mg,Fe and Cu in B. variegata var.candida were higher than in H. citrina,but the content of Zn was lower.For the vitamins,the content of VB1 is higher,and the contents of Vc and carotene were as high as 6.4 and 4.5 times of that in H. citrina,but the contents of VB2 and VE were lower.The total protein content of H. citrina and B. variegata var.candida were 19.19% and 15.79%,but the content of total amino acids contents in protein were 9.99% and 12.74% respectively.The close degree of essential amino acids contents in H. citrina and B. variegata var.candida to that in egg protein(the standard)were 0.73 and 0.85.Based on the analysis results,B. variegata var.candida is a kind of promising edible wild vegetable flower with plenty of nutrients.