Antioxidant activity characterisation of rose petal agro-waste feedstuff

Agro-industrial residues are by-products rich in organic compounds and hold great potential for transformation into valuable resources. Rose petal agro-waste refers to the discarded floral material produced during commercial rose cultivation and its processing in the cosmetic, food, and herbal industries. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activities of the rose petal dried waste for potential consideration as livestock feedstuff. Rose petal waste was obtained from a Bulgarian producer of aromatic natural products located in the Sofia-Oblast Region. All samples were dried, milled, and further processed for the characterization of the antioxidant activity. The spent Rosa damascena petal dried waste showed a considerable amount of total phenol (341.17±7.20 mg GAE/g) and a remarkable antioxidant activity, in terms of FRAP (3911.55±86.43 mM TE/g) and ORAC (4015±77.34 mg TE/g) values. The in vitro activity also resulted very promising. All these findings together confirm that the rose petal dried waste can be considered as a potential candidate to produce natural functional feedstuff for livestock application.