The nutritional components and poisonous elements in flowers of Camellia chekiangoleosa,C.polydonta,C.semiserrata and C.azalea were studied.The results indicated that the soluble sugar content of the four Camellia flowers had no difference.The maximum protein content was 82.9 g·kg-1,detected in the flower of C.semiserrata.And the minimum protein content was 56.8 g·kg-1,found in C.azalea.Vitamin C and β-carotene contents in C.azalea and C.semiserrata were higher,and in C.polydonta and C.chekiangoleosa were lower.The total amino acid contents of the four Camellia were 68.41、67.26、50.77、66.87 g·kg-1 respectively,the essential amino acid contents were 33.86、32.70、27.21、33.79 g·kg-1 respectively,and the proportion of essential amino acid in total amino acid of the four Camellia were 49.50%,48.62%,53.59% and 50.53% respectively.The contents of Ca,Mn and Cu in C.chekiangoleosa were the highest.Zn and Se contents were the maximum and Ca was the minimum in C.polydonta.The contents of Fe and Se were the lowest in C.semiserrata.Fe content were the maximum and Mn,Zn and Cu the minimum in C.azalea.The trace element contents in the flower of the four Camellia species followed the order of Mn,Fe,Zn,Cu,Se,but the content of Fe was higher than that of Mn in C.azalea.The contents of Pb,Cd,As and Hg of the four Camellia flower were all lower than the permissible amount.
