General Information
Roselle is native from India to Malaysia, where it is commonly cultivated, and must have been carried at an early date to Africa. It has been widely distributed in the Tropics and Subtropics of both hemispheres, and in many areas of the West Indies and Central America has become naturalized.
Roselle sauce or syrup may be added to puddings, cake frosting, gelatins, and salad dressings, also poured over gingerbread, pancakes, waffles or ice cream. It is not necessary to add pectin to make a firm jelly. In fact, the calyces possess 3.19% pectin and, in Pakistan, Roselle has been recommended as a source of pectin for the fruit-preserving industry.
History
Roselle is native to India and Malaysia and was soon cultivated in parts of Africa. The slave trade brought it across the Pacific to tropical and subtropical regions of Central America, Brazil, Mexico, and the West Indies. Roselle requires adequate rainfall or irrigation and is not frost tolerant. It grows in Florida, warmer regions of California and temperate climates around the world.
