Study of the application of selected plant material from Rosa genus as acid-base indicator

Rod Rosa, ruže, jedan je od najznačajnijih rodova porodice Rosaceae, ružovki, koji je široko rasprostranjen i lako dostupan za korištenje u brojne svrhe. Obzirom na visoku cijenu i štetan učinak sintetskih kiselo-baznih indikatora, sve se više počinju ispitivati biljni materijali koji u svome sastavu sadrže pigmente koji mijenjaju boju medija ovisno o pH. Antocijanini primjer su takvih pigmenata. Radi se o spojevima koji su široko zastupljeni u biljnom svijetu, pa se mogu naći i u cvijetu ruže. Ovi spojevi pridonose obojenju cvijeta i ploda, a njihova velika rasprostranjenost navela je znanstvenike da ispitaju mogu li se ruže koristiti kao alternativni, odnosno prirodni, kiselo-bazni indikator. Cilj ovog rada bio je ispitati potencijal primjene odabranog biljnog materijala roda Rosa kao kiselo-baznog indikatora. U tu svrhu korištene su suhe latice različitih vrsta ruža u kombinaciji s odabranim otapalima (voda, etanol, metanol i aceton). Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su da se većina ispitanih ruža može koristiti kao prirodni kiselo-bazni indikator koji je, za razliku od sintetskih, niže cijene, pristupačniji te nije štetan za okoliš i ljude. Od ispitanog biljnog materijala, među vizualno najistaknutijima pokazale su se roza i crvena ruža, dok narančasta i bijela ruža nisu pokazale vizualno dojmljive rezultate, ali i one imaju potencijal primjene kao prirodni kiselo-bazni indikatori.The genus Rosa, the rose, is one of the most important genera in the Rosaceae family and is widely distributed and easily accessible for a number of purposes. Given the high price and harmful effect of synthetic acid-base indicators, more research deals with natural materials containing plant pigments which change colour of the medium depending on the pH. Anthocyanines are an example of such pigments. They are widely distributed in the plant kingdom and can be found in the rose flower. These compounds contribute to the colouring of the flower and the fruit, leading scientists to examine whether roses can be used as an alternative, i.e. as a natural, acid-base indicator. The aim of this work was to examine the potential of the application of selected plant material of genus Rosa as an acid-base indicator. For this purpose, dry petals of different types of roses in combination with selected solvents (water, ethanol, methanol and acetone) were used. The results of this work showed that most of examined roses can be used as a natural acid-base indicator, which, unlike synthetic, has a lower price, is easily available and is not harmful to the environment and to people. Among used plant material, pink and red roses were visually the most prominent, while the orange and white roses did not show visually impressive results, but they also have the potential to be used as natural acid-base indicators