Roselle in Malaysia

Introduction

Roselle ("Hibiscus sabdariffa" L.) from the Malvaceae family is a relatively a new crop in Malaysia. The origin is not fully known but it is believed its origin was from West Africa, although the plant is found native from India to Malaysia. Sudan is a presently the major producer of roselle as a source of Sudanese tea. In some countries, leaves are eaten as vegetables, and used in various cuisines such as those of Myanmar/Burma, Lao PDR and Vietnam.

To some people in Malaysia, roselle is known locally as asam paya or asam susur. The calyces and leaves are acid in flavour.

Refreshing Drink

The bright red succulent calyces (singular calyx) are edible and they are the most useful part of the plant. Fresh calyces produces a red colour extract for making drink. To obtain calyces from fruits, seed capsules need to be removed (decored) within 2 days of harvest using a simple hand-held gadget.

To date, roselle has achieved as an important position as a pro-health drink in Malaysia due to its high contents of vitamin C and anthocyanins. To a small extent, the calyces are also processed into sweet pickle, jelly and jam.

Anthocyanins, belonging to the family of water-soluble flavonoid pigments, are responsible for the red to purple colour of the calyx and other parts of the roselle plant, and for the red, blue and purple colours in many other fruits and vegetables.

Medicinal uses

Many parts of the plant are also claimed to have various medicinal values. They have been used for such purposes ranging from Mexico through Africa and India to Thailand. Roselle is associated with traditional medicine and is reported to be used as treatment for several diseases such as hypertension and urinary tract infections.

Production

It was introduced into Malaysia in early 1990s. Its commercial planting was first promoted by the Department of Agriculture in Terengganu in 1993 and has now spread to other Malaysian states.

At one time, roselle had been thought to be a suitable crop to replace tobacco on bris (sandy) soils, and could be established as a major new crop in the East Coast states where most bris soils are found.

Today, the planted area is still small, around 1.5 km² annually, planted with two main varieties. Growers usually call these varieties as 'Terengganu' and 'Arab'.

Although the involvement of private sector is considered essential in promoting the crop, only a handful of companies had been involved in planting, processing, product development and marketing.

Crop research

In the initial years, limited research work were conducted by UM and MARDI. Research work at UKM was initiated in 1993. To date, the amount of research work is still considered small.

Crop genetic resources & improvement

Genetic variation is important for plant breeders to increase the crop productivity. Being an introduced species in Malaysia, there is a very limited number of germplasm accessions available for breeding. At present, UKM maintains a working germplasm collection, and also conducts agronomic research and crop improvement.

Mutation Breeding

Conventional hybridisation is difficult to carry out in roselle due to its cleistogamous nature of reproduction. Because of this, a mutation breeding programme was initiated to generate new genetic variability. The use of induced mutations for its improvement was initiated in 1999 in cooperation with MINT, and has produced some promising breeding lines. * [http://www.fnca.jp/english/mb/e_ws_2005.html Workshop on Mutation Breeding] [FNCA 2005]

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Natural outcrossing under local conditions

A study was conducted to estimate the amount of outcrossing under local conditions. It was found that outcrossing occurred at a very low rate of about 0.02%. However, this rate is much lower in comparison to estimates of natural cross-pollination of between 0.20% and 0.68% as reported in Jamaica.

ome References

Chau, J. W., Jin, M. W., Wea, L. L., Chia, Y. C., Fen, P. C. and Tsui, H. T. (2000). Protective effect of "Hibiscus" anthocyanins against tert-butyl hydroperoxide-induced hepatic toxicity in rats. "Food and Chemical Toxicology" 38: 411-416.

Mohamad, O., Mohd. Nazir, B., Abdul Rahman, M. and Herman, S. (2002). Roselle: A new crop in Malaysia. "Buletin PGM" Dec 2002, p. 12-13.

Mohamad, O., Mohd. Nazir, B., Azhar, M., Gandhi, R., Shamsudin, S., Arbayana, A., Mohammad Feroz, K., Liew, S. K., Sam, C. W., Nooreliza, C. E. and Herman, S. (2002). Roselle improvement through conventional and mutation breeding. "Proc. Intern. Nuclear Conf." 2002, 15-18 Oct 2002, Kuala Lumpur. 19 pp.

Pau, L. T., Salmah, Y., and Suhaila, M. (2002). Antioxidative properties of roselle ("Hibiscus sabdariffa" L.) in linoleic acid model system. "Nutrition & Food Science" 32(1): 17-20.

Vaidya, K. R. (2000). Natural cross-pollination in roselle, "Hibiscus sabdariffa" L. (Malvaceae). "Genetics and Molecular Biology", 23, 3, 667-669.