Botanical Name - Hibiscus sabdariffa


Category - Medicinal


Form - Dry


Part Used - Flower


General Information - Hibiscus sabdariffa L. (roselle) belongs to the family Malvaceae. It exists as herbs or shrubs, often with fibrous stems, (Eno, 2000). The leaves are deeply three- to five-lobed, 8-15 cm long, arranged alternately on the stems. Vernacular names, in addition to roselle, in English-speaking regions are rozelle, sorrel, red sorrel, and Florida cranberry. In North Africa and the Near East Hibiscus sabdariffa is called karkad or carcad. Hibiscus sabdariffa is believed to have originated from India and Malaysia, where it is commonly cultivated, and must have been carried at an early date to Africa. Two main types of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. exist. The more important economically is Hibiscus sabdariffa variety altissima Wester, an erect, sparsely branched annual plant which is cultivated for its jute-like fiber in India, the East Indies, Nigeria and to some extent in tropical America. The other distinct type of roselle, Hibiscus sabdariffa variety sabdariffa.


Phytochemicals- Citric and malic acids are the major organic acids in aqueous extracts of the flowers of Hibiscus sabdariffa. Most of the chemical investigations of the flower constituents have been directed towards characterization of their pigments. Isolated an anthocyanin, to which they assigned the structure, cyanidin-3-glucoside this was later changed to delphinidin-pentoside-glucoside. Delphinidin and cyanidin were reported as major constituents of plants grown in Trinidad. Pigment also isolated delphinidin-3-sambubioside (major component), delphinidin-3-monoglucoside and cyanidin-3-monoglucoside