Norazian Mohd Hassan

In Vitro Study of Antimicrobial Activity of Acalypha Indica Linn. Extract

The objective for this research undertaken was to evaluate Acalypha indica extracts for their antimicrobial potential. Fresh plant samples were extracted via maceration in increasing polarity using petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol. Antimicrobial activity of the extracts was assessed using disc diffusion assay and minimum inhibitory concentration. It was observed that the crude methanol leaves, stembark and chloroform stembark extracts exhibit antimicrobial activity towards both Staphylococcus aureus bacteria and Candida albicans fungi. The inhibition zones recorded in milimeters by the chloroform stembark extracts were 9.57±0.51 (200 mg/mL), 8.33±0.58 (100 mg/mL) and 7.33±0.58 (50 mg/mL) while methanol stembark extract recorded inhibition zones at 13.67±0.58 (200 mg/mL), 10.00±1.00 (100 mg/mL) and 9.33±0.58 (50 mg/mL) against S. aureus. Antifungal activity was also detected against C. albicans as the chloroform stembark extract produced inhibition zones of 14.33±0.58 (200 mg/mL), 13.33±0.58 (100 mg/mL) and 12.67±0.58 (50 mg/mL) while the methanol stembark extract resulted in inhibition zones of 15.33±0.58 (200 mg/mL), 14.33±0.58 (100 mg/mL) and 13.0±0.00 (50 mg/mL). In the case of crude methanol leaves extract, the extract produced inhibition zones of 19±0.58 (200 mg/mL), 13±1.00 (100 mg/mL) and 10±1.00 (50 mg/mL) against S. aureus while against C. albicans, the extract recorded inhibition zones of 15±0.58 (200 mg/mL), 14±0.00 (100 mg/mL) and 13±0.00 (50 mg/mL). The chloroform stembark crude extract developed a medium MIC value of 0.938 mg/mL while both methanol crude extracts produced a strong MIC value of 0.469 mg/mL during the minimum inhibition concentration screening against Candida albicans.

Influence of Environmental Stress toward Carotenogenesis Regulatory Mechanism through In Vitro Model System

Carotenoid biosynthesis is influenced by some aspects and is liable to geometric isomerisation with the existence of oxygen, light, and heat, which affect color degradation and oxidation. The major problems related to carotenoid accumulation inherently originate from pigment instability. This chapter discusses an overview on the influence of stringent control of genetic, developmental, and environmental factors toward carotenoid biogenesis in potato minitubers through the potential model system for rapid initiation, extraction, and analysis of carotenoids. The outcome of this experimental system is a discovery of variables regulating carotenoid accumulation as a result of the environmental change assessment through manipulation of drought stress, light intensity, and nutrient strength on carotenoid accumulation

Characterisation of Carotenoid and Total Retinol Equivalent Content in Ulam and Medicinal Species as Alternative Food Intervention to Combat Vitamin A Deficiency

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is one of the continuous leading causes of children and pregnant women death. To overcome this malnutrition which currently affected one-third of the world population, there is always renewed interest in exploring numerous dietary sources rich in carotenoids which some of them serve as pre-cursors to vitamin A (pro-vitamin A). It is important that affordable staple foods be as nutritious as possible because poverty limits food access for much of the developing world’s population. Therefore, this study was aimed to explore various dietary sources for carotenoids in 28 ulam and medicinal species which are commonly consumed by the local folks. Carotenoid extraction using organic solvents was performed and analysis employed in this study through High Performance Liquid Chromatography revealed seven types of carotenoids in the food matrices; neoxanthin, violaxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, β-cryptoxanthin, α-carotene and β-carotene. Interestingly, these carotenoids profiles were found in varying concentration and composition in different species as well as in different period or season. Total carotenoids content quantified in all of the samples lies between 1.315 ± 0.007 to 190.301 ± 3.427 µg/g DW where cekur manis has the highest content. The total vitamin A activity (in terms of retinol equivalent, RE) of every species is also included in this study. The results suggested that at least 20 of the ulam and medicinal species may be used as alternative food intervention to eliminate VAD as a public health concern.

Isolation and purification of β-Carotene from Morinda citrifolia as HPLC standard and active pharmaceutical ingredient

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of individual carotenoids content and composition are complicated, time consuming and in fact very costly. The crucial and vital part is the availability and reliability of the pure standards. Most of the individual carotenoids are commercially available either in natural or synthetic form but they are quite expensive and some of it not available in the market anymore. These problems strongly associated with the accuracy and reliability of High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis data. Therefore, this study aimed to set up an analytical scheme of obtaining b-carotene standard from the leaves of Morinda citrifolia as one of the carotenoid standards for HPLC analysis. M. citrifolia has been selected due to its abundance throughout the year with tropical climate. The scheme via open column chromatography (OCC) established that the purity of I²-carotene standard was 97% and the coefficient of correlation was 0.9923. However after 30 day storage period of time, the purity decreased to 95.46%. Although these had an effect on the carotenoid standard stability but it can be a reliable source of I²-carotene standard for HPLC analysis as well as active pharmaceutical ingredient for cosmeceutical, nutraceutical, food and beverage industries.

Bioactive Terpenoids from the Stem Bark of Entada spiralis Ridl. (Sintok)

The application of the Entada spiralis Ridl. (Leguminosae) stem bark containing saponin in the treatment of scalp and as body soap is well known for generations. Our previous investigation revealed that E. spiralis stem bark contains several terpenoid compounds and is responsible for the inhibitory effect against bacteria Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 12228 and skin disease dermatophytes, Microsporum gypseum ATCC 24102, Trichophyton mentagrophytes ATCC 9533 and Trichophyton tonsurans ATCC 28942. The aim of this work is to isolate and identify the chemical structures of terpenoid compounds from active fraction of E. spiralis stem bark. The isolation of active compounds was conducted by chromatographical separation, and the structure characterization was done based on 1D and 2D NMR analysis (1H,13C NMR, HMQC, HMBC and DEPT135) and comparison with those of the literature. We managed to isolate two terpenoid compounds known as ester saponin (1) and terpene benzoate (2). These compounds were elucidated as 16-β-D-arabinofuranosyl-15-β-D-xylopyranosyl-5,8,9,10-tetrahydroxyl-17,18,19,20-tetramethyl diterpene ester (1) and 4-(β-D-glucopyranosyl)-1-hydroxybenzene-(20-hydroxyl-18,19-dimethylcyclotetradecanol) benzoate (2). The finding is hoped to provide an alternative of new search for natural antimicrobial drug.