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Y. Li
1 Overview of Oil-Yielding Peony
Oil-yielding peony refers to a group of peonies whose seeds can be used to produce
edible oil. The way of reproduction determines their oil-yielding potential. Currently,
the main oil-yielding peony varieties being promoted in China are “Fengdan” and
“Ziban.”
As a perennial woody plant native to China, oil-yielding peony is resistant to
drought, barrenness, low temperature, and salt-alkali and thrives in partial shade.
It can grow in more than twenty provincial-level regions in China, ranging from
Heilongjiang and Jilin in the north to the northern parts of Guangdong and Guangxi
in the south and from Yunnan, Xinjiang and Tibet in the west to the eastern coastal
regions. According to statistics, the total area of regions suitable for planting oilyielding peony is 4.2 million square kilometres, accounting for 43.75% of China’s
total land area.
It generally takes three to four years for oil-yielding peony seedlings to produce
seeds, and the seed quantity grows year by year. The plants enter the productive period
in their seventh or eighth year, which can last thirty to fifty years. Into the productive
period, oil-yielding peony can yield around 200 kg of seeds per mu (666.67 m
2 ) in the
Yangtze River basin, 300 kg in the Yellow River basin, and 150 kg in Northwest China.
For improved varieties grown, managed, and harvested with advanced techniques,
the per mu yield can reach 400–500 kg.
All parts of oil-yielding peony are of value. The seeds can be pressed to produce
high-end edible oils; the petals can be extracted for essential oils which are used in
cosmetics; the stamens can be used to make tea, which is good for the urinary system,
especially the prostate; the seed coats can be used to extract flavonoids and peony
proanthocyanidins, which help improve blood circulation, lower cholesterol, and
scavenge free radicals and have antioxidant effects; the fruit pods can be extracted
for peony polysaccharides, which can enhance phagocytes and body immunity; the
seed meal can be extracted for polysaccharide gums, which have anti-inflammatory
and anti-oxidant effects; the leftovers of seeds, fruit pods, and seed coats can be
made into nutrition powder or nanophase wood flour, a new type of energy-saving
and environmentally-friendly material. So far, hundreds of products such as food,
healthcare products, and daily chemical products have been developed from oilyielding peony, and some of them have gained popularity among consumers.
2 Emergence of the Oil-Yielding Peony Industry
As medical expert Li Shizhen of the Ming dynasty points out in the Compendium
of Material Medical, though peony bears seeds, its seedlings grow out of roots. This
shows that even more than 500 years ago, people already knew that some peony
varieties could produce seeds. Later, some peony growers found that peony seeds
contained “oil.” In the 1950s and 1960s when edible oils were in short supply, people
Y. Li
1 Overview of Oil-Yielding Peony
Oil-yielding peony refers to a group of peonies whose seeds can be used to produce
edible oil. The way of reproduction determines their oil-yielding potential. Currently,
the main oil-yielding peony varieties being promoted in China are “Fengdan” and
“Ziban.”
As a perennial woody plant native to China, oil-yielding peony is resistant to
drought, barrenness, low temperature, and salt-alkali and thrives in partial shade.
It can grow in more than twenty provincial-level regions in China, ranging from
Heilongjiang and Jilin in the north to the northern parts of Guangdong and Guangxi
in the south and from Yunnan, Xinjiang and Tibet in the west to the eastern coastal
regions. According to statistics, the total area of regions suitable for planting oilyielding peony is 4.2 million square kilometres, accounting for 43.75% of China’s
total land area.
It generally takes three to four years for oil-yielding peony seedlings to produce
seeds, and the seed quantity grows year by year. The plants enter the productive period
in their seventh or eighth year, which can last thirty to fifty years. Into the productive
period, oil-yielding peony can yield around 200 kg of seeds per mu (666.67 m
2 ) in the
Yangtze River basin, 300 kg in the Yellow River basin, and 150 kg in Northwest China.
For improved varieties grown, managed, and harvested with advanced techniques,
the per mu yield can reach 400–500 kg.
All parts of oil-yielding peony are of value. The seeds can be pressed to produce
high-end edible oils; the petals can be extracted for essential oils which are used in
cosmetics; the stamens can be used to make tea, which is good for the urinary system,
especially the prostate; the seed coats can be used to extract flavonoids and peony
proanthocyanidins, which help improve blood circulation, lower cholesterol, and
scavenge free radicals and have antioxidant effects; the fruit pods can be extracted
for peony polysaccharides, which can enhance phagocytes and body immunity; the
seed meal can be extracted for polysaccharide gums, which have anti-inflammatory
and anti-oxidant effects; the leftovers of seeds, fruit pods, and seed coats can be
made into nutrition powder or nanophase wood flour, a new type of energy-saving
and environmentally-friendly material. So far, hundreds of products such as food,
healthcare products, and daily chemical products have been developed from oilyielding peony, and some of them have gained popularity among consumers.
2 Emergence of the Oil-Yielding Peony Industry
As medical expert Li Shizhen of the Ming dynasty points out in the Compendium
of Material Medical, though peony bears seeds, its seedlings grow out of roots. This
shows that even more than 500 years ago, people already knew that some peony
varieties could produce seeds. Later, some peony growers found that peony seeds
contained “oil.” In the 1950s and 1960s when edible oils were in short supply, people