Rosa chinensis as edible flowers: phytochemicals and biological effects

Abstract

Rosa chinensis as edible flowers, is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine, which is rich in resources and is cultivated in most parts of China. Its phytochemicals mainly include flavonoids and their glycosides, phenolic acids, pentacyclic triterpenes and steroids. R. chinensis has many biological activities, including antioxidation, antibiosis, protection of pancreatic islet cells. The phytochemicals and biological activities of R. chinensis were summarized by databases such as Web of Science, SciFinder, Baidu Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect and SpringerLink.