ABSTRACT
Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) belongs to the family Malvaceae and is a popular vegetable in Indonesia, India, West Africa, and many tropical regions. The calyces of roselle are rich in anthocyanin, ascorbic acid, and other phenolic compounds. It is water soluble with brilliant and attractive red color and with sour and agreeable acidic taste, which aid digestion. Roselle has been used by people for preparing soft drinks and in traditional medicine. It has been observed that its components, such as vitamins (C and E), polyphenols acids and flavonoids, mainly anthocyanins, have functional properties. They contribute benefit to health as a good source of antioxidants as well as a natural food colorant. The other health benefits of this plant include diuretic and choloratic properties, intestinal antiseptic, and mild laxative actions. It also used in treating heart and nerve disorder, high blood pressure, and calcified arteries. Due to perceived safety and physiological advantage of the natural colorants over synthetic ones, interest is being geared into the search of new natural colorants and the verification of the safety of existing ones. In this respect, roselle calyces appear to be good and promising sources of water-soluble red colorants that could be utilized as natural food colorants. Anthocyanins present in Roselle are delphinidin 3-sambubioside, cyanidin 3-sambubioside, delphinidin 3-glucoside, and cyanidin 3-glucoside.
