Evaluation of Mineral Nutrient and Health Risk in Flower of 17 Cultivars of Hibiscus mutabilis L.

In order to explore the nutritional value and food safety in flower of different varieties of Hibiscus mutabilis L., the composition and contents in flower of 17 H. mutabilis cultivars were determined by inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP-OES), and were evaluated by principal component analysis, the pollution levels and potential health risks were estimated by provisional tolerated weekly intake (PTWI) and target hazard quotient (THQ), respectively. The results showed that the major elements K, Ca, Mg, and Na content ranged from 13564.921 to 24951.771, 1301.943 to 4786.171, 1724.442 to 3748.11 mg·kg⁻¹ and 122.894 to 706.763 mg·kg⁻¹ in flower of 17 H. mutabilis cultivars, respectively. The content range of 11 kinds of beneficial mineral elements: I, Zn, Fe, B, Al, Cu, Co, Mo, Mn, Si, V were 0.009~1.360, 17.880~81.381, 55.185~115.034, 19.281~52.571, 31.555~92.710, 6.220~13.308, 0.040~0.147, 0.320~3.286, 4.223~23.472, 0.062~0.193, 0.128~0.502 mg·kg⁻¹, the contents of Cd, As, Pb and Cr in all the samples were not exceeded national standards. This indicated that the H. mutabilis flower was rich in mineral elements, safe for human consumption, and conducived to improving our dietary nutrition. The results of principal component analysis showed that 'JBY' had the highest comprehensive score and could be used as a suitable variety for the development of functional products. The highest average ratio of AWI to PTWI of the four harmful elements was no more than 10%, and the THQ was less than 1, the results indicated that trace elements intake form the flower of H. mutabilis had no significant health risk to people who consume it. The trace elements of As and Pb were the main risk elements, which had high contribution rate to HI.