Physicochemical and Toxicological Activity of Hibiscus sabdarifa.
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Date
2002
Authors
Thomas A.E.
Odukoya O.A.
Adepoju-Bello A.A.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Nigeria Journal of Pharmacy
Abstract
Hibiscus sabdarifa Linn. (Malvaceae) commonly called Zoborodo or Zobo ( The Hausa name)grows as a weed or may be cultivated near houses throughout the tropical, subtropical and temperate regions of the world.An infusion of the flower is a refreshing drink extracted with either cold or hot water and also in the preparation of jellies, jams and wines. A large number of the Nigerian populace now take this drink, it therefore became necessary to determine its physicochemical properties and also the toxicological effect on health consumption.
Qualitative analysis was done using Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) and quantitatively using UV spectrophotometry for estimation of vitamin C. Determination of total solids was calculated on dried extract and toxicity was estimated using Brine Shrimp Lethality Bioassay (BSL) and LC50 values calculated within 95% confidence limits.
The results show that pH of the drink was 2.4 (very acidic) hence explains the sour taste. Total solid matter was 11.1% an evidence of the high absorptivity of the drink. TLC analysis confirmed the presence of vitamin C by comparison of the spot profile with pure ascorbic acid. UV spectrophotometric estimation showed that the cold extract has 666mcg/ml ascorbic acid and the hot extract 310 mcg/ml ascorbic acid. Heating destroys ascorbic acid thus explaining the high Vitamin C content in the cold extract. LC50 of the cold extract was 460ppm whie that of the hot extract was251ppm a further confirmation of the high activity and less toxicity of the cold extract.
Description
Scholarly articles
Keywords
Hibiscus sabdarifa , Toxicity , Physiochemical properties , Health consumption , Research Subject Categories::PHARMACY::Pharmaceutical chemistry
Citation
Thomas AE, Odukoya OA and Adepoju-Bello A, (2002). Physico-chemical and Toxicological Activity of Hibiscus sabdarifa. The Nigeria Journal of Pharmacy, 32: 42-45.