Take me: Roselle can also be found as fruit spread to decorate cake. JP/Khairul Saleh

If you ask people in South Sumatra whether they are familiar with “roselle”, they will almost definitely reply in the negative. But show them the plant and they are sure to recognize it.

In South Sumatra, the red flowered herb has various local names depending on where it grows: asam kesur, asam rejang, deduhok jawe, asam jarot and bunga sugus.

Until recently, it was used only to give flavor to boiled fish (pindang) in place of tamarind, to make relish or to mix with spicy steamed fish or soybean cake in rolls (brengkes or pepes).

But after its other benefits began to be known, roselle became a crop and source of income for villagers throughout the province — all thanks to the work of 50-year-old Muhammad Umar Husein. The activist from Pemberdayan Masyarakat Mandiri, a community empowerment NGO in Palembang, first started helping farmers to cultivate the plant in 2003 on blocks of land in several South Sumatra regencies and cities.

Attractively packaged roselle products — unrefined plant parts, tea bags and jams — are now available in shops, supermarkets, restaurants and pharmacies across Palembang.

“It wasn’t easy to ask farmers to grow roselle because they never knew about its advantages,” said Umar. “They only ever used it for relish or pindang and brengkes flavoring and it was just a wild herb.”
Umar spent two years researching the plant before setting out to oversee its mass-cultivation. When he visited the Cimanggu Agro Research Park, he was surprised to learn of roselle’s multiple uses and benefits.

Now, each month, Umar’s farmers produce between 400 and 700 kilograms of dried rosella; the monthly market demand is 500 to 600 kilograms.

Roselle tea, also called red tea because of its color, has a distinctive sweet-and-sour taste due to its citric acid and ascorbic acid content. The tea is high in antioxidants and can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease because it can retard the clogging of blood vessels by fat.

Fatimah, a lecturer at the Nutrition College in Palembang, describes how roselle can be processed into a refreshing and health-promoting alternative drink. According to studies by an American biologist and pharmacologist, Dr. James Duck, she says, 100 grams of fresh roselle calyces contains between 260 and 280 milligrams of vitamins C, D, B1, B2. The vitamin C content is considerably higher than that found in citrus fruits, star fruit and guava.

“Roselle is also rich in amino acids,” said Fatimah. “It contains 18 out of the 22 amino acids needed by the human body, including the two essential acids, arginine and lysine, which stimulate the growth of nerves and hormones while inducing fertility and maintaining youthfulness. The tea made from it can help liver troubles and diarrhea.”

Among the other health benefits of roselle that she named were its ability to: lower blood sugar and cholesterol, prevent dental decay, slow down premature aging, prevent joint inflammation, improve concentration, reduce the risk of a stroke, stabilize blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart attack and cancer growth.

It can also help obese people, she explained. “Roselle consumption will reduce body weight because of its three main elements: caffeine as a stimulant, L-theanine with its capacity to neutralize caffeine’s dangerous effects and suppress the appetite, and EGCC for accelerated fat burning.”

She also recommended the plant for treating cough, sore throat, Coeliac disease and muscle pain.
Nearly all parts of the plant are beneficial, she added. The seeds, which contain essential amino acids, can be used as a coffee mixture to boost fertility and the leaves and dregs remaining after serving roselle tea can help smooth the skin.

Popular

Kadin urges stability after Constitutional Court ruling

Jokowi says transition to new government to begi

BCA loan disbursement surges 17.1 percent yoy in first quarter