Overview Of Roselle And Its Applications In Different Areas
Roselle, also called as Rosella or Jamaican sorrel belongs to the family Malvacea. It is probably native to Central and West Africa. It’s known in the West Indies in the 16th century and was growing in Asia by the 17th century while in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) began in the 1920s under a government-subsidized program established to obtain fibre for sugar-sack manufacture. However, these days Roselle can be found in many places around the world. It is grown in the tropics as an aromatic herb with many medicinal properties. Roselle is an annual herb cultivated for the edible external portion of its calyx, seed and leaves. In many tropical areas, the calyxes are the most popular part of the plant for eating. It’s usually use for sauces, jellies or to add color and flavor to herb teas. That is the reason why the Roselle is one of the best hibiscus tea plants. The reddish leaves also can be eaten. It’s usually consumed as salads or you can cook them as a vegetable. In Africa the oil-containing seeds are eaten. The seed also can be roasted and brewed like coffee.
Roselle or Rosella also have the scientific name. The scientific name of Roselle is Hibiscus sabdariffa. Roselle usually propagated from seed. It grows best in tropical climates and requires rainfall averaging about 10 inches (25 cm) each month throughout the growing season. The leaves range from dark green to reddish colour. The leaves of young seedlings and upper leaves of older plants are simple, and the margins are toothed while the flowers are creamy white or pale yellow.
For the fibre crops, the seeds will be sown close together. It will produce plants 10 to 16 feet (3 to 5 metres) high with the little branching. The stalks will be cut when buds appear, it is subjecting to a retting process, after that it will be stripped of bark or beaten to freeing the fibre but in the some areas they reduced the retting time by treating only the bark and its adhering fiber. For the fruit crops, the Roselle will be plant more widely spaced, are shorter and many-branched. Their calyxes are picked when plump and fleshy.
The calyx of Roselle 3 to 5 feet (1 to 1. 5 metres) long of the fibre strands, are composed of individual fibre cells. Roselle fibre is lustrous, with colour ranging from creamy to silvery white, and it is moderately strong. It is usually combined with jute, for bagging fabrics and twines. The major producers of the fabrics and twines are India, Java, and Philippines.
Uses of each part of Roselle plant
- Leaves as Vegetables
- Calyx as Beverage
- Calyx as Tea
In Bangladesh, Roselle leaves are steamed with dried or fresh fish to make paste and the popular soup or dish is also prepared from Roselle leaves along with prawn stock. In India, The young leaves of Roselle are consumed as dal after steaming with lentils and the Leaves also used to make Pachadi (pesto) by mixing with spices while in Myanmar the leaves are widely consumed as affordable vegetable for poor peoples.
The red Roselle calyces are very popular in production of the non-alcoholic beverage. It can be one of the industrially produced soft drinks in terms of cost-effective choice. Either fresh or dried Roselle calyx is suitable to use to prepare drink. Firstly, the calyxes need to be boiled to make dark red solution for 8-10 minutes after that add a little bit sugar as sweetener. Before serving the drinks, it must be filtered and chill into the refrigerator for a while. The drink made from fresh fruits, juices or extracts are usually consumed as cheap beverage in Mexico and Central America. It is also a popular drink in many social events of African countries like Mali, Senegal, the Gambia, Burkina Faso, Sudan and Benin. It is also available in the groceries throughout the United Kingdom. It is also available in the health food stores in the United States labeled as "Flor de Jamaica".
The calyx also can be prepared as tea that made from dried Roselle calyx. It has a lot of health benefits and highly valued as organic product because it is caffeine free herbal tea. It is a popular sugary herbal tea in Africa and also spread in Italy during the first decades of the 20th century and is quite common everywhere. In Thailand, they believed the Roselle tea can reduce cholesterol. Not just that, Roselle tea is also produced in Jamaica by adding additional flavour from ginger and the Roselle flowers are also widely use to make herbal tea.
Medicinal and health benefits
Roselle is a multipurpose plant and all above ground parts of Roselle can be used as traditional medicine for the treatment of several diseases in Africa, India and Thailand. Many medicinal applications of the plant parts of Roselle have been reported in different countries around the world. There have several reports listed which affirm the traditional health benefits of the Roselle extract such as, the Roselle tea can reduce the blood pressure in hypertensive and pre-hypertensive persons and it show strong anti-cancer activities against of the prostate cancer cells. The seed extracts of Roselle can inhibit growth of several funguses and bacteria. The Roselle extracts can reduce extra fat from liver and abdomen and it is perfectly safe for use in skin conditioning treatments while the calyx extracts can reduced body fat and reduced body mass index (BMI). The boiled leaves can help to remedy of cracks in the feet and speedup maturation of ulcers. The Roselle extracts also can Helps to increase stamina and balance body electrolyte after sports and the Calyx extract also contain several of amino acids those are important for our body.
