Determination of Natural Radioactivity of the Hibiscus sabdariffa Linn (Roselle) Used in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

In this work, ten medicinal and nutritional leaves samples of Hibiscus sabdariffa Linn imported from Mali and Burkina Faso in Côte d’Ivoire and sold on the market were collected. The analysis of these plants using High Purity Germanium detector (HPGE) gamma spectrometry showed the activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K varied respectively in the range of (1.74 - 0.11) × 10−3 Bq/kg, (6.72 - 0.61) × 10−4 Bq/kg and (4.65 - 0.54) × 10−3 Bq/kg1 in the leaves of H. sabdariffa. The Average Annual Committed Effective Dose (AACED) values from leaves this plant varied from 251.492 × 10−6 to 68.133 × 10−6 mSv/y. These values found are below 0.30 mSv/y, the world average value for an individual. These results show that there is no radiological risk in consuming “bissap” leaves.