The leaves of roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) have been used as a traditional folk medicine that has diuretic and mild laxative effects. Roselle is cultivated in many countries for medicines and food. However, studies on the variation of functional compounds in different accessions are relatively limited. In this study, we investigated the phenolic compound content of leaf extracts from 49 different roselle accessions from a worldwide collection by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. The aim was to chemically classify and assess the pharmacological properties of the phenolic compounds in the leaves. The phenolic compounds were identified as neochlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, rutin, rutin isomer, isoquercitin, kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, kaempferol-3-O-glucoside, quercetin, quercetin isomer, and kaempferol. These compounds were present at significantly different levels among the accessions. The most abundant phenolic compound was rutin, which was found in 45 accessions where the total phenolic compound content was 18.75-46.51 mg/g (average 31.52 mg/g). The phenolic compounds were classified into four groups. The two accessions with the highest total phenolic compound content were from Ghana (PI286316) and Senegal (PI275413). The hierarchical cluster analysis of the 49 roselle accessions showed that they formed five groups according to their phenolic compound content. Our results will be useful for the selection of roselle genotypes with improved functional compounds.

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The faba bean, one of the few crops that produces L-3,4-dihydroxy-phenylalanine (L-dopa) naturally, is also a good source of fatty acids and isoflavones. This study analyzed fatty acids, L-dopa and isoflavones in the leaves, immature pods and seeds of selected high-yielding faba bean genotypes spring-sown in Korea. The most abundant fatty acids in the leaves, immature pods and seeds were linolenic acid (58.6–63.7%), linoleic acid (46.9–58.9%), and linoleic acid (45.7–63.6%), respectively. The L-dopa content was highest in the leaf for all the faba bean genotypes except PI430715 and PI614810 where it was highest in the immature pods. The α-linolenic acid and L-dopa contents of the seed and immature pod of the PI430715 and PI614810 genotypes were the highest of all the genotypes. Four isoflavones (daidzin, genistin, daidzein and genistein) were detected with levels of daidzin and genistin generally higher than those of daidzein and genistein in each part of the faba bean. The L-dopa content was correlated (P ≤ 0.05) with those of five fatty acids (oleic, gondoic, phytanic, α-linolenic, and behenic acid). Overall, the PI430715 and PI614810 faba bean genotypes with their higher L-dopa and α-linolenic acid contents were the most functional. This study may help identify optimal genotypes for breeding new cultivars which provide functional compounds to treat Parkinson’s disease or use in foods.

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