Red flowers, yellow oil

People are often surprised that the hibiscus oil we make for hair isn't red. The flowers are bright red, so why is the oil yellow?

The red colour of hibiscus flowers comes mostly from anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are:

• water-soluble pigments
• not very soluble in oil
• often unstable with heat and changes in pH

So when the flowers and leaves are cooked into oil, the bright red pigment usually doesn't move into the oil. What does move into it are other plant compounds, traces of chlorophyll, waxes and oil-soluble fractions. That's why a genuine hibiscus oil usually looks yellow, yellow-green, greenish or brownish-green.

A bright red "hibiscus oil" is worth a second look.