Are Gardenias Edible?
Gardenias are one of the most sought-after flowers in the world. The petals are a deep shade of crimson, and their aromatic scent is known to attract butterflies and hummingbirds alike. However,did you know that they’re also edible? Not only that, but they taste pretty good too! This article will teach you about Gardenias so that you can find out for yourself if they’re edible.
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Can You Eat Gardenia?
Gardenias are commonly used in floral arrangements for their aesthetic value. But many people wonder if gardenias are edible. Are Gardenias edible?
Yes, the Gardenia blossoms are eaten fresh, pickled, or preserved in honey. The leaves, flowers, or petals can be used to make tea or extract juice from the plant. . Many gardenias are edible and have many uses. The leaves, flowers, or petals can make tea or extract juice from the plant.
Is Gardenia Fruit Edible Too?
Yes, the fruits are also delicious and tint other foods yellow. They are slightly bitter. In Korea, they are widely known as chija. They are often used by them to make tea and as a good herbal remedy for fevers. Koreans even mix the Gardenia fruit with flour to make a dough and then apply it to joints to relieve arthritis.
Gardenia Recipe
There are many recipes for this fruit. Some of the most popular include gardenia jam, Gardenia juice, and cocktails mixed with cold Gardenia nectar as a sweetener. Gardenia juice is made by adding carbon dioxide to fresh-picked or store-cold. What they have in common is that they all use sour yellow colorings of licorice, brown sugar, or honey to offer flamboyance without using any deep. Here’s a healthy recipe you can try!
Gardenia Flower Infused Honey
Two ingredients and 10 minutes make this fresh flower-infused honey. Use fragrant honey-like regular honey. It’s great on toast, biscuits, and fruit salads. Sweeten coffee or tea with it. Or make a flower garden lemonade! You can check out the full details about this lovable recipe at BotanyCulture.com by Sass.
Ingredients:
2 cups of honey
1 1/2 cup of fresh Gardenia petals
Procedures:
- Brush or shake the gardenias to clean them. Cut the flowers’ outer petals just above where they turn green, saving as much white as you can. Compost the leaves.
- Fill a pint jar 3/4 full of petals.
- Then slowly add honey. Help the honey to the bottom of the jar with a chopstick. It takes time for the honey to fill in all the gaps.
- Fill the jar to 1/2′′ from the top, then seal with a lid. It’s not exact, but cover the gardenia flowers in honey. (As it settles, you may need more honey.) The gardenia petals will shrink and float to the top after a few hours, which is fine.
- Infuse the honey for a few days to 2 weeks. Place jar on a plate (in case of leakage). Longer infusions produce stronger flavors. The warmer the environment, the faster the honey infuses. Set the jar on a sunny windowsill.
- Daily shake the jar to move the petals. It is upside down one day and right side up the next. The infusion will be better because you can’t shake honey like a tincture.
- After a few days, taste the honey and strain it through a fine-mesh strainer. To do so, gently warm the honey. Place the sealed jar in warm water for 15 minutes or on a sunny windowsill to warm it up, dry it off and strain.
- Mark and date your honey, 3-month use.
Gardenia Infused Flower Honey Benefits
Same as using regular honey, you can use fresh flower-infused honey that way. Because gardenia flowers are edible, you could even strain the honey-soaked petals and use them to make a sweet tea concentrate after straining them. It’s as simple as putting the petals in a small saucepan, covering them with water, and bringing them to a boil. Then steep for 8-10 minutes with the lid on, strain, and you’ve got yourself a cup of sweet gardenia tea!
Use gardenia flower infused honey for:
- Serve it with a summer charcuterie. (Add a few fresh gardenias for color!)
- Use it in spring and summer cocktails.
- Sweeten coffee or tea with it.
- Make a floral lemonade for summer.
- It’s great on buttered toast, biscuits, fruit salad, and oatmeal.
- Take a spoonful for an afternoon pick-me-up.
- Enjoy gardenia honey facial and benefit from both gardenias and honey’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties!
The Health Benefits of Gardenia
Gardenia is a common herb in Chinese herbal medicine. The gardenia fruit, also known as Zhi Zhi or Cape Jasmine, has been used for centuries to treat excessive body heat conditions. These include eczema, jaundice, and irritability. Also used topically for burns.
In Western medicine, Gardenia treats everything from insomnia to influenza. Studies slowly confirm Gardenia’s medicinal efficacy, despite science’s slow catch-up.
Gardenia is generally thought to be:
- Helps lower blood pressure
- Antioxidant
- Anti-tumor
- Anti-inflammatory
- Help relieve anxiety, pain, and trouble sleeping
What Are Gardenias Used For?
Gardenias have many uses. Some of the most common ones include:
- The fruits of Gardenia can be used to make medicine.
- Herbal medicines
- People take Gardenia by mouth as a dietary supplement. It’s also an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immune system booster.
- Gardenia is applied to the skin to help with bleeding, wound healing, sprains, and muscle soreness.
- Often used food coloring because of its yellow hue and to dye clothes.
