No abstract

Hibiscus sabdariffa L., (roselle) in the Malvaceae family is an erect subshrub known to be native to India and Malaysia. It is widely used as a food or tea material around the world, and its therapeutic effects have been widely studied. In this study, the sequencing of the complete chloroplast genome of H. sabdariffa was carried out. The result indicates a genome size of 162,428 bp, which is composed of a large single copy of 90,327 bp, two inverted repeats of 26,242 bp each, and a small single copy of 19,617 bp. Overall, a total of 131 genes were predicted, including 86 coding sequences, 37 tRNAs, and 8 rRNAs. According to a phylogenic analysis, it was clearly distinguished from outgroups such as other species of the genus Hibiscus used in the analysis.

As the national flower of Korea, the Hibiscus syriacus L. (Rose of Sharon) is symbolic in its abundance and is a prominent feature of Korean culture. H. syriacus has played an important role in Korea, not only as an ornamental plant but also as an essential ingredient in folk remedies through its various parts. This study aimed to characterize the nutritional and biochemical composition of each plant unit of H. syriacus “Wonhwa.” The units are namely: the petals, leaves, roots, and sprouts from its seeds. According to the results each unit produced, the sprouts had the highest content of amino acids and fatty acids which adhere to the requirements of nutritionally excellent food ingredients. The petals produced high quantities of glucose, sucrose, and fumaric acid, with the highest antioxidant activity among the four units. The main bioactive compounds detected in H. syriacus extracts in the four units were o‐coumaric acid, p‐coumaric acid, schaftoside, isoschaftoside, apigenin‐6‐C‐glucoside‐7‐o‐glucoside, and kaempferol‐3‐O‐galactoside‐7‐O‐rhamnoside. Overall, the highest number of bioactive compounds, 2 phenolic acids and 22 flavonoids, were identified in the petals. These results suggest the possibility of excellent pharmacological activity in the petals.

Hibiscus trionum L. is an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the Malvaceae family. It is native to Central Africa, however, is now naturalized in Europe and Asia including Korea. Here, we report the complete chloroplast genome assembly of H. trionum . The complete chloroplast genome comprises 160,530 bp and is divided into four typical regions: a large single-copy region of 89,272 bp, a pair of inverse repeats of 26,152 bp each, and a small single-copy region of 18,954 bp. A total of 131 genes were identified in this chloroplast, of which 86 were protein-coding, 37 were tRNA, and 8 were rRNA genes. The results of this study will serve as a key reference for further research on Hibiscus speciation.

Hibiscus sinosyriacus is a deciduous broad-leaved shrub belonging to the Malvaceae family that is distributed in the temperate southern regions of China. Studying the chloroplast genome of H. sinosyriacus is necessary to distinguish evolutionary and genetic differences among allied species. In this study, the chloroplast genome sequence assembly of H. sinosyriacus was completed, and the genome size was 160,892 bp. The large single copy was 89,747 bp, the two inverted repeats were 25,742 bp, and the small single copy was 19,661 bp long. There were 131 genes, 86 coding sequences, 37 tRNAs, and 8 rRNAs, of which 7 genes were replicated in the inverted region. The complete genome sequence can be used for evolutionary comparative studies of related species.