Journal of Ornamental Horticulture

Lilies are among the most economically important and widely cultivated floricultural crops worldwide have great ornamental, medicinal and edible value. Bulbs of four Lilium species (L. regale, L. lancifolium, L. longiflorum, Lilium sp.), and five cultivars of different hybrid groups (namely Avocado, Tiara, Navona and Brunello were investigated with a view to their exploitation as a potential source of natural antioxidants due to their phenolic composition and dietary antioxidant potential. Significant differences exists in the antioxidant capacity as well as in the total phenolic content of bulb extracts assayed via the FRAP (μ mol/g) and CUPRAC (μ mol/g) methods. Lilium regale had the highest phenolic content and the strongest antioxidant capacity followed by cultivar Mother Choice, while Lilium lancifolium and cultivar Navona had the lowest phenolic contents and the weakest antioxidant activity among the tested species and cultivars. The analysis revealed a significant positive correlation of total phenols with FRAP (0.957**), CUPRAC (0.923**) and FRAP with CUPRAC (0.930**). Hierarchical cluster analysis showed that L. regale belonged to the group with high phenolic content and strong antioxidant power. The results indicate that lily bulbs are the good candidates for further development as nutraceutical supplements or antioxidants remedies. Further studies should focus on the assessments of these extracts before their commercial exploitation.