Roselle for Food Buyers: Names, Forms and Labels

Every official text in this guide that gives a botanical name for roselle gives Hibiscus sabdariffa, so ask your supplier to put that name on the specification beside the trade name. The texts spell the common name four ways, roselle, rosella, roselia and rosela, and they name different parts of the plant. In Thai, กระเจี๊ยบ appears both in roselle product names and in the Thai title of the national okra standard. This guide covers what the texts call the plant, which names can point elsewhere, which parts and forms they describe, how labels name them and what to ask a supplier.

Which Botanical Name Do the Official Texts Give for Roselle?

Thailand. Four Thai community product standards from the Thai Industrial Standards Institute (TISI) define roselle products by reference to Hibiscus sabdariffa (our translation). Three print the botanical name as Hibiscus sabdariffa L. (1460/2556, 535/2554 and 168/2556) and one as Hibiscus sabdariffa Linn. (887/2557). The Thai Food and Drug Administration's list of plants or animals permitted for colour extracts (our translation), updated 24 July 2026, has a row giving กระเจี๊ยบแดง, roselle and Hibiscus sabdariffa L.

Indonesia. Farmakope Herbal Indonesia, second edition (2017), from the Ministry of Health, has a monograph headed "BUNGA ROSELA", Latin title "Hibisci Sabdariffae Flos", which defines bunga rosela as the whole perianth of the flower of Hibiscus sabdariffa L., family Malvaceae (our translation). Its foreword describes the book as a standard in the field of pharmacy, mainly for raw materials of traditional medicine (our translation), so it is used here as a naming reference, not as food law. BPOM Regulation 13 of 2023, titled Kategori Pangan, lists the species name Hibiscus sabdariffa in Lampiran II, headed "BAHAN BAKU YANG BERASAL DARI TANAMAN ATAU HEWAN", raw materials derived from plants or animals (our translation).

Singapore. The National Parks Board (NParks) species record for Hibiscus sabdariffa, last updated 8 September 2023, gives the family as Malvaceae.

United States. 21 CFR 172.510 is headed "Natural flavoring substances and natural substances used in conjunction with flavors", and its table has a row with the common name "Roselle" and the scientific name "Hibiscus sabdariffa L" (eCFR version of 6 October 2026). This guide covers the name in that row, not the uses the section regulates.

Philippines. The Philippine Food Composition Table Online Database of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI), release of 1 December 2019, lists "Roselle lvs" with the scientific name Hibiscus sabdariffa.

How Is Roselle Named and Spelt Across These Texts?

English spellings differ even within one country's documents. The TISI open-data list of Thai community product standards (dataset metadata modified 19 September 2025) gives the English titles "DRIED ROSELLE FOR INFUSION" (1460/2556), "INSTANT ROSELLE DRINK" (168/2556), "ROSELLA SYRUP" (887/2557) and "ROSELIA DRINK" (535/2554). In their definitions, all four refer to Hibiscus sabdariffa (our translation). In Indonesia, BPOM Regulation 13 of 2023 gives the common name "Hibiscus/rosella" in its raw-material row and uses "minuman rosela" and "bunga rosella bergula" as example product names, while the herbal pharmacopoeia uses "rosela".

Thai names. Each of the four TISI definitions names the calyx and epicalyx of กระเจี๊ยบแดง with the botanical name Hibiscus sabdariffa (our translation); three add that it is commonly called ดอกกระเจี๊ยบ, in which ดอก means flower (our translation). The standards' Thai titles are กระเจี๊ยบแดงแห้งชงดื่ม, กระเจี๊ยบแดงผงสำเร็จรูป, น้ำกระเจี๊ยบเข้มข้น and น้ำกระเจี๊ยบ, so two use กระเจี๊ยบแดง and two use กระเจี๊ยบ alone.

Singapore names. The NParks record lists the common names "Roselle, Jamaica Sorrel, Red Sorrel, Sorrel, Indian Sorrel, Asam Susar, 玫瑰茄, 山茄子". It does not say which language each name belongs to.

Synonyms. A document may carry another Latin name. The NParks record lists the synonyms Hibiscus gossypiifolius, Abelmoschus cruentus, Hibiscus digitatus, Sabdariffa rubra and Hibiscus sanguineus, and the BPOM row for Hibiscus sabdariffa lists six other names, among them Abelmoschus cruentus (Bertol.) Walp., Hibiscus cruentus Bertol. and Sabdariffa rubra Kostel. Two synonyms, Abelmoschus cruentus and Sabdariffa rubra, appear in both texts. If a certificate or specification gives one of these names, ask the supplier to confirm that the material is Hibiscus sabdariffa.

Which Names Can Point to a Different Plant?

Two kinds of name in these texts also appear with botanical names other than Hibiscus sabdariffa.

• กระเจี๊ยบ. Thailand's voluntary national standard TAS 1501-2004 is titled กระเจี๊ยบเขียว over "OKRA" on its Thai cover, and its English version, marked "UNOFFICAL TRANSLATION", gives the botanical name Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench and the family Malvaceae for okra.
• Hibiscus. BPOM Regulation 13 of 2023 lists Kembang sepatu as Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, with flower and leaf as the parts that may be used (our translation). 21 CFR 182.10 lists "Ambrette seed" as Hibiscus abelmoschus L., and 21 CFR 182.20 lists "Ambrette (seed)" as Hibiscus moschatus Moench. (eCFR version of 6 October 2026).

A document that says only hibiscus or กระเจี๊ยบ may therefore not identify roselle, so ask for Hibiscus sabdariffa by name.

Which Parts and Forms Do the Texts Describe?

The part differs from text to text:

• The four TISI standards and the Thai FDA colour-extract list name the calyx and epicalyx, กลีบเลี้ยงและริ้วประดับ (our translation).
• Farmakope Herbal Indonesia defines bunga rosela as the whole perianth of the flower (our translation).
• BPOM Regulation 13 of 2023 gives "Bunga", flower, as the part that may be used in its Hibiscus sabdariffa row (our translation).
• The Philippine composition table lists roselle leaves ("Roselle lvs").

The Thai standards describe four product forms. Their notifications give these announcement dates: 1460/2556 and 168/2556, 6 August 2013; 535/2554, 28 September 2011; and 887/2557, 25 August 2014 (our translation; years converted from the Buddhist Era). TISI 1460/2556 covers dried roselle for infusion with the calyx and epicalyx as its main component, in dried pieces or ground to a powder, which may be packed in paper sachets, for brewing as a drink (our translation). TISI 168/2556 covers an instant product ready for brewing, in small flakes and powder (our translation). TISI 535/2554 covers only a ready-to-drink product (our translation). TISI 887/2557 defines a drink that must be diluted before consumption (our translation), titled in English "ROSELLA SYRUP".

In Indonesia, "minuman rosela" appears under "Minuman Botanikal/Minuman Rempah (Bentuk Padat atau Cair)" within category 14.1.5, headed "Kopi, Kopi Substitusi, Teh, Seduhan Herbal, dan Minuman Biji-Bijian dan Sereal Panas, kecuali Cokelat"; "bunga rosella bergula" appears under "Bunga Bergula" within category 04.1.2.7, "Buah Bergula" (sugared fruit, our translation).

The Thai FDA list mentioned above names roselle as a plant permitted for colour extracts, with the calyx and epicalyx as the part used (our translation). This guide does not cover how colour extracts are made or used.

How Do Label Rules Name Roselle Products?

Thailand. Each of the four TISI standards says that every container must at least show the product name as in the standard, and the main ingredients as approximate percentages by weight in descending order (our translation). Three of them allow the standard name to be followed by a name for the product, and give the examples กระเจี๊ยบแดงผงชงดื่ม (1460/2556), น้ำดอกกระเจี๊ยบพร้อมดื่ม (535/2554) and กระเจี๊ยบผงผสมน้ำตาล (168/2556) (our translation). TISI 887/2557 and 168/2556 also require every container to show the type and quantity of food additives, if any (our translation). All four add that where a foreign language is used, it must have the same meaning as the Thai (our translation).

Older Thai titles. Three of these standards replaced earlier ones with different Thai titles, according to their notifications: 535/2554 replaced น้ำดอกกระเจี๊ยบ (535/2547), 887/2557 replaced น้ำดอกกระเจี๊ยบเข้มข้น (887/2548) and 168/2556 replaced กระเจี๊ยบผงชงดื่ม (168/2546) (our translation). The TISI list retrieved on 11 October 2026, whose dataset metadata was modified on 19 September 2025, prints น้ำดอกกระเจี๊ยบ as the Thai title of 535/2554. A document that cites a standard by its Thai title may therefore use an older title, so ask for the standard number and year as well.

Indonesia. BPOM Regulation 13 of 2023 applies to anyone who produces and/or imports processed food for trade in retail packaging (our translation). For botanical drinks it says the product type name follows the raw material used, with "minuman rosela" among its examples (our translation). Raw materials derived from plants or animals are set in its Lampiran II, where the Hibiscus sabdariffa row sits in part A, headed "BAHAN BAKU TANPA BATASAN PENGGUNAAN" (raw materials without limits on use, our translation). Under Pasal 8(1), plant or animal raw materials other than those listed in Lampiran I and Lampiran II may be used only after written approval from the Head of BPOM, based on an assessment of food safety, quality and nutrition (our translation).

What Should You Ask a Roselle Supplier?

• Botanical name. Ask for Hibiscus sabdariffa, with its author, on the specification and on each lot's certificate of analysis, not only roselle, rosella or hibiscus. Every text in this guide that gives a botanical name for roselle gives that one.
• Look-alike names. If a document says only กระเจี๊ยบ, hibiscus or ambrette, ask which species is supplied. These texts pair กระเจี๊ยบเขียว with okra, Abelmoschus esculentus, and give the names Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (Kembang sepatu), Hibiscus abelmoschus L. ("Ambrette seed") and Hibiscus moschatus Moench. ("Ambrette (seed)") to other entries.
• Part. Ask which part is supplied: calyx and epicalyx, the whole perianth, the flower or the leaves. The texts name each of these.
• Form. Ask whether the product is dried pieces, powder, instant flakes, a ready-to-drink product or a syrup to be diluted, and which standard number, if any, it is made to.
• Ingredients. For a product made to one of these four Thai standards, ask for the main ingredients as approximate percentages by weight in descending order; for 887/2557 or 168/2556, also ask for the type and quantity of any food additives. These are the corresponding label items (our translation).
• Indonesia. If the roselle is for processed food sold in retail packs in Indonesia, check the part supplied against the part given in the Lampiran II row of BPOM Regulation 13 of 2023, "Bunga".

Is Rosella a Different Ingredient From Roselle?

Not by botanical name. The Thai community product standard titled in English "ROSELLA SYRUP" (887/2557) defines its drink by reference to Hibiscus sabdariffa Linn. (our translation). BPOM Regulation 13 of 2023 gives the common name "Hibiscus/rosella" for Hibiscus sabdariffa. The standards titled "DRIED ROSELLE FOR INFUSION" and "INSTANT ROSELLE DRINK" give Hibiscus sabdariffa L.

Does กระเจี๊ยบ Always Mean Roselle in Thai Documents?

No. The roselle standards use กระเจี๊ยบแดง in their definitions, while Thailand's voluntary okra standard, TAS 1501-2004, is titled กระเจี๊ยบเขียว and gives the botanical name Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench for okra. Ask for the botanical name when a document says only กระเจี๊ยบ.

Which Part of Roselle Does Indonesia's Food Category Regulation List?

The flower (our translation). BPOM Regulation 13 of 2023 lists Hibiscus sabdariffa in part A of Lampiran II with "Bunga" as the part that may be used (our translation). Indonesia's herbal pharmacopoeia, a pharmacy standard, defines bunga rosela as the whole perianth of the flower (our translation).

Is There a Thai Standard for Dried Roselle Calyces?

Yes, for dried roselle sold for infusion. TISI 1460/2556, "DRIED ROSELLE FOR INFUSION", covers a product with the calyx and epicalyx of กระเจี๊ยบแดง as its main component, in dried pieces or powder, for brewing as a drink (our translation).