Harlinda Kuspradini

Biological Activity and Phytochemical Analysis of Three Indonesian Medicinal Plants, Murraya koenigii, Syzygium polyanthum and Zingiber purpurea

Extracts of Indonesian medicinal plants, Murraya koenigii, Syzygium polyanthum, and Zingiber purpurea were investigated for their biological activity. The presence of phytochemicals, cytotoxicity, and antimicrobial and antioxidant activities were investigated. Parts of M. koenigii, S. polyanthum, and Z. purpurea were extracted with ethanol. The extracts were evaluated for antimicrobial activity using the disc diffusion method, while antioxidant activity was determined with a 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay. Cytotoxicity was investigated using the brine shrimp lethality test, and phytochemical screening was performed using a standard method. M. koenigii leaf extract exhibited the most activity in the test microorganism activity index (AI), 0.38-1.25, when compared with standard drugs. S. polyanthum ripened fruit displayed significant antioxidant activity (90%) in comparison to ascorbic acid (95%). Z. purpurea rhizome extract possessed the highest cytotoxic effect with a LC(50) of 52 μg/mL. Phytochemical analysis revealed that carbohydrate, tannin, alkaloid, steroid, triterpenoid, and flavonoid were present in the extracts of M. koenigii leaves and twigs, S. polyanthum leaves and ripened and unripe fruits, and Z. purpurea rhizome, while saponin was only present in the S. polyanthum ripened fruit extract. Our work revealed that the M. koenigii leaves, S. polyanthum ripened fruit, and Z. purpurea rhizome extracts have potential as sources of new antimicrobial, antioxidant, and cytotoxic compounds, respectively.

Antidermatophyte and antimelanogenesis compound from Eleutherine americana grown in Indonesia

An active compound from the bulb of Eleutherine americana L. Merr. (Iridaceae) collected from East Kalimantan, Indonesia, was tested for its antidermatophyte and antimelanogenesis activity. Antifungal assay-directed fractionation of the n-hexane-soluble fraction of the methanolic extract of the bulb of E. americana led to the isolation of 1 as an active compound. The compound was identified as the naphthoquinone eleutherin by EI-MS and 1H-, 13C-, and two-dimensional NMR analyses. Antidermatophyte assay of 1 at concentrations of 10, 20, 40, 60, and 80xa0μg/disk and myconazole, a commercial antidermatophyte, at 10xa0μg/disk displayed 7, 8, 13, 16, 17, and 14xa0mm of inhibition zone against Trichophyton mentagrophytes, respectively. In a melanin formation inhibition assay, compound 1 displayed potent antimelanogenesis activity at 5xa0ppm with low toxicity compared with arbutin, a commercial skin-whitening agent. The results showed the high potential of 1, an active compound from E. americana, to be applied as an antidermatophyte and antimelanogenesis agent.

Intsia palembanica wood extracts and its isolated compounds as Propionibacterium acnes lipase inhibitor

Potential compounds from Intsia palembanica methanol extracts were isolated. Three isolated compounds as well as 7 reported compounds from Merbau were analyzed for their ability to inhibit the lipase activity of Propionibacterium acnes. Lipase was isolated from P. acnes and used as enzyme for activity analysis. The lipase activity test was performed using the 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanol tributyrate (BALB) method. The results showed that methanol extract and water fraction were active to inhibit lipase activity but n-hexane fraction and EtOAc fraction did not reach 50xa0% inhibition until 500xa0μg/ml. EtOAc fraction consisted of flavonoid, naringenin, robinetin, and (+)-epirobidanol accelerated the lipase activity. The other 7 compounds showed inhibitory activity of lipase in a concentration-dependent manner. In conclusion, fustin is the most active compound to inhibit the P. acnes lipase activity.

Validation of Eupatorium triplinerve Vahl Leaves, a Skin Care Herb from East Kalimantan, Using a Melanin Biosynthesis Assay

In searching for a new material made from natural resources that could be used as a whitening agent, we focused on the plants used for skin treatment by the native people of East Kalimantan. The methanol extract of the leaves of Eupatorium triplinerve Vahl showed antimelanogenesis activity in a melanin biosynthesis assay. By activity-guided fractionation, 7-methoxycoumarin (1) was isolated as an active compound. The IC50 of 1 on mushroom tyrosinase was 2360 μM (L-tyrosine was used as the substrate) and above 2840 μM (L-DOPA was used as the substrate), respectively. Regarding melanin formation inhibition in B16 melanoma cells, the IC50 of 1 was 1780 μM with 83% cell viability at IC50. Based on these results, we validated that the leaf extract is in line with the traditional use of the Dayak tribe in East Kalimantan.

Anticandidal activity of several plants used by Bentian tribe in East Kalimantan, Indonesia

Research on the potential of diversity, ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology and bioactivity of plants used by local tribes in Kalimantan is still relatively inadequate. This research aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of medicinal plants used by the Bentian tribe in East Kalimantan. In this study, we used 19 medicinal plants collected from our previous study. From these samples, we tested 21 extracts derived from n-hexane, ethyl acetate and ethanol as representative of different polarity solvents. The Anticandidal activity was examined using agar well diffusion against Candida albicans. Anticandidal activity of the extracts was evaluated by relative comparison with the standard antibiotic, chloramphenicol. The results showed that among the n-hexane extracts, those derived from Blumea balsamifera and Triumfettar homboidea exhibited the highest inhibition activity on the growth of C. albicans by 27-56%. The ethyl acetate extract of B. balsamifera and Stachytarpheta jamaicensis observed to have the h...