Zobo: Health Benefits and Nutritional Values

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While working this morning, a colleague walked into the office with a jug of Zobo drink well produced and ready to be served. After taking two glasses of the rich drink, I decided to carry out a bit of research on the health benefits and nutritional values of Zobo drink.
Pics adapted from http://doctorschar.com/features/jamaican-sorrel/
Zobo (also known as Roselle, Sorrel or Hibiscus Sabdariffa): is a tropical Africa plant that is popular for its fruits and leaves that are used for cooking making tea, juice, wine among others. It contains high levels of antioxidants, such as flavonoids, which are good for our hearts and bodies. Flavonoids comprise a group of compounds that give the color to red wine, watermelon, and grapefruits. These antioxidants help our bodies fight the harmful molecules known as free radicals, which can cause cell damage leaving the body in a diseased state. By taming free radicals, antioxidants help maintain the body's good health
Some known health benefits of Zobo include

  1. Thirst: Zobo drink can be taken hot or cold. As iced tea, the infusion is known to satiate thirst quite effectively. It is often recommended as an alternative to artificially made commercial "sport drinks" that are marketed to physically active individuals. Zobo tea's ability to cool the body is well documented by cultures that include it in their diet or medicinal practices. This benefit is probably associated with the diuretic properties of hibiscus, a property that helps in the excretion of excess fluids from the body.
  2. High Blood Pressure: The antihypertensive properties of hibiscus tea were noted by a study in which 70 people were involved; half of them drank hibiscus tea once daily and the other half took 25 mg of antihypertensive medicine twice daily. After a month, 79 percent of the tea drinkers experienced a ten point reduction in blood pressure, 84 percent of the ones that took pharmaceutical medicine also experienced the same reduction in blood pressure. Hibiscus is an antioxidant. It has properties that prevents the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins; a substance in our blood that if increased beyond normal quantities may cause high blood pressure.
  3. Weight Loss: Some tea drinkers use hibiscus tea to aid in weight loss. The body produces an enzyme known as amylase which functions to break down complex sugar and starch molecules in food. When a person consumes too much carbohydrate-rich food (full of sugar and starch) that individual is most likely going to gain weight. According to pubmed.gov, hibiscus contains a substance that can inhibit the production of amylase. A person regularly drinking hibiscus tea can thus prevent too much absorption of carbohydrates and consequently not gain excess weight.
  4. Cough and Colds: According to the book "Healing Herbal Teas," fresh hibiscus flowers contain around 6.7 mg of ascorbic acid, a form of vitamin C, which is one of the more essential nutrients needed by the body. Along with this significantly beneficial substance, hibiscus is known to have anti-inflammatory and mild anti-bacterial properties. Thus hibiscus tea is often used as a supplement to help treat coughs and colds. Because of its cooling effect, it is especially effective in reducing the discomfort of fevers that may accompany such ailments.
  5. Nutrition: Besides containing a significant amount of ascorbic acid, hibiscus is made of the following nutritional substances: 1.145 g of protein, 2.61 g of fat, 12.0 g of fiber, 1,263 mg of calcium, 273.2 mg of phosphorus, 8.98 mg of iron, 0.029 mg of carotene, 0.117 mg of thiamine, 0.277 mg of riboflavin and 3.765 m of niacin. Given all this, it can be said that hibiscus tea can serve as an excellent food supplement and an aid to boost the body's immune system.

Here is a quick recipe on how to prepare a drink from the plant. This can be served at occasions, or for your personal daily enjoyment. 

Ingredients
  • 6 handfuls of sorrel/zobo plant
  • 3 ginger roots (optional)
  • Granulated sugar (optional)
  • 5 fresh limes (optional)
  • Water
Preparation
Source: www.kitchenbutterfly.com/2013/12/07/two-recipes-from-thanksgiving/
  • Rinse off the zobo plant to get off the sand.
  • Rinse off the ginger roots and chop them into smaller pieces.
  • Pour 5-8 litres of water into a cooking pot. Put the water to boil.
  • At boiling point, put in your zobo leaves and the chopped ginger roots into the pot. Leave for about 5-10 minutes, then switch off the gas.

You can begin the next steps once the mix has cooled, or you could leave the mix overnight for more concentration, or if prepared in the morning, you could let it sit until evening.
  • Using a sieve, filter the liquid from the leaves. Be sure to use a sieve with tiny holes as there is usually a lot of sand in the mix. Squeeze the plant with your hands to get out all the liquid.
  • Add sugar as desired. The zobo plant is quite bitter so it would take a lot of sugar to sweeten your mix. 
  • Squeeze your limes into the mix, using the sieve to filter the fibre and seeds. 
  • Stir the mix thoroughly with a spoon. Pour out into jug(s) and refrigerate.
  • Once cool, pour into a glass and enjoy.
Sources:
Health Benefit of Hibiscus
Jamaica in Jamaica



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