Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant in Hibiscus sabdariffa Leaf

The Hibiscus sabdariffa leaf is usually discarded, but some countries consume it as vegetable. Many studies have demonstrated that an extract of H. sabdariffa leaves shows several bioactivities including antioxidant, antihyperlipidemic, anti-inflammation, anti-atherosclerotic and anti-proliferation [1, 2]. The purpose of this study was to determine bioactive compounds and antioxidant in the leaf of H. sabdariffa. The mature leaves of fourteen accessions were collected at 70 days after sowing. According to leaf morphology, two clusters were classified as nine accessions containing medium leaf lobing and five accessions having deep leaf lobing. Both clusters exhibited the similar contents of bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacities. Total phenolic and carotenoid contents were 55.77 ± 4.02 mg GAE/g dry extract and 6.66 ± 1.15 µg/g dry weight in the medium leaf lobing cluster, 54.27 ± 4.31 mg GAE/g dry extract and 7.01 ± 1.93 µg/g dry weight in the deep leaf lobing group, respectively. The antioxidant activity was measured by DPPH radical scavenging assay, giving 58.08 ± 2.41 and 59.42 ± 2.67% scavenging activities in the medium and deep leaf lobing clusters, respectively.

[1] Chen JH, Wang CJ, Wang CP, Sheu JY, Lin CL. Food Chemistry. 2013; 141: 397 – 406.

[2] Zhen J, Villani TS, Guo Y. Qi Y, Chin K, Pan MH, Ho CT. Food Chemistry. 2016; 190: 673 – 680.