''Abelmoschus manihot'', commonly known as aibika, is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the family

Malvaceae Malvaceae (), or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include Theobroma cacao, cacao, Cola (plant), cola, cotton, okra, Hibiscus sabdariffa, ...

. It is a tropical subshrub or shrub native to the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

, central and southern China,

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. It is a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical kingdom. It was first recognized as a distinct region ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

, and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. It is cultivated and eaten as a

leaf vegetable Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by their petioles and shoots, if tender. Leaf vegetables eaten raw in a salad can be called salad gre ...

, among other uses. It was previously classified as a species of ''

Hibiscus ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Malva, mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising List of Hibiscus species, several hundred species that are Native plant, native to warm temperate, Subtropics, subtropical ...

'' but is now categorized under the genus ''

Abelmoschus ''Abelmoschus'' is a genus of about fifteen species of flowering plants in the mallow family (Malvaceae), native to tropical Africa, Asia and northern Australia. It was formerly included within ''Hibiscus'', but is now classified as a distinct g ...

''. This plant is also referred to as the sunset muskmallow, sunset hibiscus, or hibiscus manihot.

Growth Habit

Under favorable conditions, aibika can grow over three meters in height. It is easily propagated through cuttings and relatively disease-resistant. As a result, it is widely cultivated and often found along garden borders or as an

intercrop Intercropping is a multiple cropping practice that involves the cultivation of two or more crops simultaneously on the same field, a form of polyculture. The most common goal of intercropping is to produce a greater yield on a given piece of land ...

in traditional tropical gardens. Its growth habit, along with its nutritional value, contributes to its popularity in home gardening and horticulture.

Nutrition and food use

Aibika is renowned for its highly nutritious properties. Its leaves are rich in essential vitamins, including a high content of vitamins A and C, as well as

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

. Moreover, they contain approximately 12%

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

by dry weight, making aibika a valuable dietary source. In the Philippines, where it is known as ''lagikway'' among other names, the leaves are commonly incorporated into various dishes such as

tinola Tinola is a Filipino soup usually served as a main course with white rice. Traditionally, the dish is cooked with chicken or fish, wedges of papaya and/or chayote, and leaves of the siling labuyo chili pepper in broth flavored with ginger, o ...

sinigang ''Sinigang'', sometimes anglicized as sour broth, is a Filipino soup or stew characterized by its sour and savory taste. It is most often associated with tamarind (Filipino language, Filipino: ''sampalok''), although it can use other sour fruit ...

, pinangat, or used in salads. In Indonesia, where it is known as ''daun gedi'' (''gedi'' leaf), it is used in various dishes, most famously '' bubur Manado''. Aibika is the most popular and commonly-consumed indigenous green leafy vegetable in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

Other uses

Apart from its culinary uses, aibika has additional applications in different cultures. Its

mucilage Mucilage is a thick gluey substance produced by nearly all plants and some microorganisms. These microorganisms include protists which use it for their locomotion, with the direction of their movement always opposite to that of the secretion of ...

is used in traditional

papermaking Papermaking is the manufacture of paper and cardboard, which are used widely for printing, writing, and packaging, among many other purposes. Today almost all paper is Pulp and paper industry, made using industrial machinery, while handmade pape ...

. In Japan, it is known as ''tororo aoi'' and is utilized to produce ''neri'', a starchy substance used in traditional Japanese papermaking (''

washi is traditional Japanese paper processed by hand using fibers from the inner bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub (''Edgeworthia chrysantha''), or the paper mulberry (''kōzo'') bush. ''Washi'' is generally tougher than ordinary ...

''). Similarly, in Korea it is referred to as ''hwang chok kyu'' and plays a role in making ''dak pul'', an ingredient used in the production of ''hanji'', Korean paper.

Chemical constituents

A chromatographic and

spectroscopic Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectrosc ...

analysis published in '' China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica'' revealed the presence of thirteen compounds in aibika. These compounds include

myricetin Myricetin is a member of the flavonoid class of polyphenolic compounds, with antioxidant properties. Common dietary sources include vegetables (including tomatoes), fruits (including oranges), nuts, berries, tea, and red wine. Myricetin is stru ...

, cannabiscitrin, myricetin-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, glycerolmonopalmitate, 2, 4-dihydroxy benzoic acid,

guanosine Guanosine (symbol G or Guo) is a purine nucleoside comprising guanine attached to a ribose ( ribofuranose) ring via a β-N9- glycosidic bond. Guanosine can be phosphorylated to become guanosine monophosphate (GMP), cyclic guanosine monophosp ...

adenosine Adenosine (symbol A) is an organic compound that occurs widely in nature in the form of diverse derivatives. The molecule consists of an adenine attached to a ribose via a β-N9- glycosidic bond. Adenosine is one of the four nucleoside build ...

maleic acid Maleic acid or ''cis''-butenedioic acid is an organic compound that is a dicarboxylic acid, a molecule with two carboxyl groups. Its chemical formula is HO2CCH=CHCO2H. Maleic acid is the ''cis'' Cis–trans isomerism, isomer of butenedioic acid, ...

, heptatriacontanoic acid, 1-triacontanol,

tetracosane Tetracosane, also called ''tetrakosane'', is an alkane hydrocarbon with the structural formula H(CH2)24H. As with other alkanes, its name is derived from Greek for the number of carbon atoms, 24, in the molecule. It has 14,490,245 constitutional is ...

, β-Sitosterol, and beta-sitosterol-3-O-beta-D-glucoside. File:Abelmoschus manihot (5171146007).jpg

References

External links

Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medic.
Medicinal Plant Images Database (School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University) {{Authority control

manihot ''Manihot'' is a genus in the diverse milkspurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It was described as a genus in 1754.Miller, Philip. 1754. Gardeners Dictionary...Abridged...fourth edition vol. 2 Species of ''Manihot'' are monoecious . . trees, shrubs an ...

Flora of China Flora of the Indian subcontinent Flora of Indo-China Flora of Malesia Flora of New Guinea Flora of Queensland Oceanian cuisine Melanesian cuisine Polynesian cuisine Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus