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Genetics
Centaurea cyanus is a diploid flower (2n = 24). The genetic diversity within populations is high, although there could be a future decline in diversity due to fragmentation of population and intensive agriculture.

Human food
The flower of Centaurea cyanus can be eaten raw, dried or cooked. Dried petals are used in tea and spices. Their main purpose is to add color to the drinks or food. There are cheeses or oils that contain raw petals. They can also be added to salads, drinks or deserts for garnishing purposes in raw or dried form.

Ornamental use
Centaurea cyanus is used as an ornamental plant. There are varieties with blue, white or pink petals.

Pigment
The blue color of Centaurea cyanus is due to protocyanin, an anthocyanin pigment that is also found in roses. Different anthocyanins derived from Centaurea cyanus are used as natural additives in food products, such as yoghurts.

Medicinal purpose
Centaurea cyanus contains a wide range of pharmacologically active compounds, such as flavonoids, anthocyanins and aromatic acids. Especially the flower head finds application in herbal medicine, but leaves and seeds are also used for pharmacological purposes, albeit to a lesser extent.

In particular, extract from the flower heads have anti-inflammatory properties used in the treatment of minor ocular inflammations. Antioxidant properties are high due to ascorbic acid and phenolic content. Furthermore, extracts of the flower head and vegetative parts of the plant were shown to have gastroprotective effects due to their content of quercetin, apigenin and caffeic acid derivates. .

Seed harvesting
The seed harvest occurs either by hand or in an agricultural setting with a seed harvesting machine.

Hand collecting can be time-consuming and yields are rather low.

A seed harvesting machine is more efficient than doing the collecting by hand, but it is costly. The main principle of such a machine is that it brushes the ripe seeds off the plant, creates a cross flow fan action that generates sufficient air velocity to hold and gather the seeds into the seed bunker.