Abstract

Herbal products have become increasingly popular throughout the world; one of the impediments in its acceptance is the lack of standard quality control profile. This research was conducted to standardize Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) cultivated in Sudan. For this purpose, world health organization (WHO) monograph for medicinal plants was used to assess certain particulars of the plant including macro and microscopical characters, physical and chemical characteristics. Results obtained revealed that the macro and microscopical characters of H. sabdariffa were in accordance to those specified in WHO monographs. Results of purity tests were obtained as (16.3) water soluble extractive value (21.4%), 70% ethanol soluble extractive, (11.7%) the total ash, (3.8%) acid insoluble ash values and (8.5%) moisture content, respectively whereas value of foreign materials were calculated to be 2%. The heavy metal lead in the plant sample tested was found to be below the permissible limit (10 mg/kg) and the plant was found to be free from bacterial contamination. The high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of H. sabdariffa revealed the presence of quercetin as a major phytoconstituent in a total content of 12.96%. It can be concluded that the obtained data of H. sabdariffa could be taken as guidelines in its quality assessment and will contribute positively to establish standards for the quality assessment of herbal products in Sudan.

Key words: Standardization, herbal medicine, Hibiscus sabdariffa.