Roselle calyces (Hibiscus sabdariffa), an alternative to the food and beverages industries: a review

Abstract

The need to add value to cultivated and native plant products that have medicinal and nutritional properties is increasing due to the consumers demand. Nowadays, the bioactive compounds (phytochemicals) found in plants have many uses in the therapeutic, pharmaceutical, and food industries. Dried Roselle calyces (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) are commercially available and appreciated to obtain concentrated extracts which might be used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. It has been shown that ingestion of infusions of Roselle may help to reduce chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. This could be due to the activity of some compounds, mainly flavonoids and anthocyanins, found as natural antioxidants in Roselle extracts. Numerous researchers have pointed out that Roselle and its extracts possess functional properties from where advances can be taken for developing new products with additional nutritious characteristics that may provide health benefits to consumers. Food products from Roselle are known as functional foods, which may provide health benefits to consumers because of its significant contribution of phytochemicals. In this sense, one of the main challenges that companies face todays is the development of new value-added products to meet the consumer's demands. This article presents a review of the most relevant aspects of Roselle as well as its health benefits and its application in the food and beverage areas.

Roselle Calyx Ethanol Extract Stimulates Oral Mucosal Wound Healing

“…Several advantages include the low cost of their maintenance and specialized diets as well as their easy manipulation and maintenance in controlled environmental and sanitary conditions [3,6,12,13]. Another advantage is the similarity between the oral mucosal membranes of rats and humans, which are basically made up of epithelial tissues on the surface and subjacent connective tissue called the basal lamina that provide support and nutrition to the epithelium.…”

“…The juice from its calyxes is claimed to be a health-enhancing drink because of its high contain of Vitamin C, anthocyanins [4,7,8,10,13], and protocatechuic acid [4]. Another former study reported that as an antioxidant, roselle has low bioavailability due to high acidity.…”

“…Standard topical treatment options that provide relief from pain and symptoms include analgesics, anesthetics, and antiseptics, as well as the application of antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory agents, diuretic, laxative, antihypertensive, or antihyperlipidemia [4,[9][10][11][12], anti-obesity, hypotensive, antidiabetic, immunomodulatory, hypocholesterolemic, anticancer, hepatoprotective, renoprotective, and antiurolithiatic properties [7,8,11,13]. A number of medicinal plants, such as Jatropha cucas, Morinda citrifolia, Cassia alata, and Hibiscus sabdariffa Linn.…”

“…Roselle is associated with traditional medicine in Mexico, Africa, India, and several other Asian countries and is claimed to possess various therapeutic and pharmacological activities [3,4]. In addition, the calyxes are commonly used to brew hot or cold beverage and medicines [4,5,9,13]. Although this plant has a long history of use across cultures, the recent scientific validation has augmented its status as a nutrition resource.…”

“…Although this plant has a long history of use across cultures, the recent scientific validation has augmented its status as a nutrition resource. Food industries have started incorporating their calyces into various products [10,13].…”