Abstract

Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) also called roselle fruit or flower of jamaica is a plant used in the traditional medicine due to its wealth of bioactive compounds. These compounds confer beneficial health benefits on it in aqueous infusions prepared with the blossoms of the jamaica flower. In the present study, we determined the antioxidant activity of 64 roselle varieties and quantified the following bioactive compound contents: phenolic; monomeric anthocyanins, and ascorbic acid. The results show that highest antiradical scavenging activity and reductor capacity belonged to varieties with dark-red calyces. Similarly, we found that the bioactive compound concentration increased as the pigmentation of the fresh calyces intensified. Finally, our results demonstrated that the aqueous extracts’ antioxidant activity is correlated with the bioactive compound concentration, this correlation greater with the content of ascorbic acid.

Key words: Roselle, antioxidant activity, phenolic compounds, monomeric anthocyanins.