INTRODUCTION OF THE PEONY

The peony is a flowering plant that belongs to the genus of Paeonia, the only genus in the Paeoniaceae family. Peonies are native to Asia, Europe, and Western North America. The number of species of peonies that can be distinguished ranges from 25 to 40. Peonies are among the longest-used flowers in Eastern culture, especially in China. The peony symbolizes richness, honour and auspiciousness due to its full blossom, and it is thus the favourite flower of many Chinese people.

In practise, peonies are more than just an ornamental plant. As an ancient plant, the peony flower was discovered to have significant nutritional values within its seeds, petals and even its roots. For example, people living in East Asia often use the peony flower and petal to make herbal tea. Ancient Chinese people, tracing from the Eastern Han Dynasty, also found its medical value useful for the purpose of removing stasis, sterilization and anti-inflammation.

In China, peony plants scatter the provinces of Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Gansu, Chongqing, Anhui and other regions with usually mild temperatures, dry air and sufficient daylight. In total, the area covered by peony plants in China has reached 67 billion square meters. As technology has developed, the peony has gradually been planted in more areas that do not typically fit its cultivation. Additionally, people have started to breed new varieties of the plant. As such, there exists today approximately 1250 peony varieties whereas previously, only slightly over 300 varieties existed.

With the large production scale-up, an increase in scientific and innovative research and development, as well as deep process development, are being conducted around this plant. The peony industry has expanded from traditional ornamental plant cultivation into food science, bioscience and other fields which are helping to improve quality of life and achieve economic growth. Realizing the flower’s unique qualities, possessing both ornamental and economic value, some local governments have established the peony industry as one of their economic pillars through which to drive local economic development and growth. Among the provinces that advocate and promote the peony industry, Shandong Province holds the leading position in the development of the peony-related industry with regards to plant cultivation area, annual production, plant varieties, peony-sourced products and government supports.

Shandong Province established a five (5) year development plan for the peony industry by setting up five focuses, including optimizing the development layout of the peony industry, fastening the construction of oil-use peony, building a large-scale standardized planting base, promoting and improving the level of peony industrialization and strengthening and branding the market presence of the peony and its derivative products. To realize its target, Shandong Province has established scientific research institutions such as the China Peony Application Research Institute, Peony Scientific Research Expert Advisory Committee, Heze Peony Research Institute and Heze Forestry Research Institute.

Among the cities within the territory of Shandong Province, Heze City is known as the Peony Capital. Heze City has the largest breeding and flower ornamental base in the world and most of the world’s peony flowers are introduced from Heze City each year.

With years of scientific research and development, the peony has been found to have fairly high edible, nutritional and medicinal values, from its roots to its stamen and to its seeds.

Peony seeds are especially valuable. Peonies have been identified as an oil crop plant that can be compressed into oil, and the oil is extracted from the seeds of peony. Peony seeds are now regarded as a source of oil in the same way as soybeans, canola and olives.

The results of scientific experiments and research have proven that peony seed oil features the following advantages.

Nutrition-rich

Peony seeds are highly nutritious. As a new oil crop, peony seeds are compressed into oil that contains comprehensive and balanced nutrients that the human body requires, including fatty acids, the essential elements of kalium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, selenium and others, as well as multiple vitamins such as vitamin A, E and F. It is worth noting that peony seed oil contains over 90% unsaturated fatty acids, an important component of the human body which plays biological, structural and functional roles, among which contains more than 40% α-linolenic acid (also known as ALA).

ALA is an essential omega-3 fatty acid, which is required for normal human growth and development. Based on scientific research, ALA is also known to be a popular component for preventing and treating diseases of the heart and blood vessels. It is applied to mitigate the risk of heart attacks, to lower high blood pressure and lower cholesterol.

Thus, the high composition of essential elements/substances makes the peony (seed) an extremely valuable woody plant for its oil. The Chinese Oil Crops Research Institute and Academy of Agricultural Sciences compares the content of the essential components of peony seed oil with other types of edible oils shown in Table 1. It is indicated that Peony Seed Oil does have a greater content of unsaturated fatty acids and α-linolenic acid compared to other edible oils, yet it has less saturated fatty acids which makes it less likely to cause weight gain in humans.

As a new oil crop containing valuable nutrients, peony seed oil was approved as a type of new food resource by the Ministry of Health of China on March 29, 2011.

High Smoke/Burning Point with Stabilized Chemical Structure

Peony seed oil is recognized as a type of oil bearing a high smoke point temperature, whose temperature can reach 446-518°F (240-270°C) when used for cooking.

Attributed to its high content of unsaturated fatty acids, the chemical structure of peony seed oil can remain stable, even under a high cooking temperature. More importantly, the nutritional substances contained by the oil make it insusceptible to deterioration and spoilage. As such, peony seed oil is ideal for repeated use and it is a better fit for deep frying.

Table 2 below compares the most common edible oils with regards to their smoke point and application. It turns out that the smoke point of peony seed oil is second to that of refined avocado oil, which is typically quite costly. Peony seed oil is therefore ideal for both cooking and cold serving, using various cooking methods.

High Production Yield

Peony seeds are not only rich in nutrients, but also boast a high production yield. In China, the current production yield of peanuts per acre is about 1335 kg, sunflower yield per acre is about 1214 kg, canola yield is about 910 kg and soybean yield is about 730 kg. In comparison, the yield of peony seeds per acre is about 2124-3035 kg (3-5 year old peonies), of which seeds account for about 1400-2000 kg.