Sains Malaysiana 41(11)(2012): 1437–1444

Phytochemical Constituenst and In Vitro Bioactivity of Ethanolic Aromatic Herb Extracts

(Kandungan Fitokimia dan Bioaktiviti In Vitro Etanol Ekstrak Aromatik Herba)

Nurain Aziman, Noriham Abdullah*, Zainon Mohd Noor, Khairusy Syakirah Zulkifli

& Wan Saidatul Syida Wan Kamarudin

Food Technology Programme, Faculty of Applied Sciences , Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM)

40450, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Received: 09 March 2012 / Accepted: 27 June 2012

ABSTRACT

Phytochemical compounds, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of selected ethanolic aromatic Malaysian herbal extracts namely Persicaria hydropiper, Citrus hystrix, Murraya koenigii, Etlingera elatior, Cymbopogon citratus and Kaempferia galanga were screened and determined. Antioxidant activities were analysed using Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP), β-carotene bleaching and Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) assays. Disc diffusion assay was used to determine antibacterial activity against six bacteria strains. Alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, terpenoids and steroids were detected in the herb extracts. P. hydropiper extract had the highest antioxidant activities in FRAP and ORAC assays in which 1676.67 mM TE/g EW and 11.20 mmol TE/g EW were obtained, respectively. However, M. koenigii extract showed 61.8% inhibition in β-carotene bleaching assay among samples but lower than BHA/BHT standard. M. koenigii extract showed the most effective antibacterial activity against three Gram-positive bacteria. Aromatic Malaysian herbs such as P. hydropiper and M. koenigii were found to exhibit high antioxidant and antibacterial activities.

Keywords: Antibacterial; antioxidant; ethanolic extracts; herbs; phytochemical

ABSTRAK

Penyaringan sebatian fitokimia, aktiviti anti-oksida dan anti-bakteria bagi ekstrak etanol herba aromatik terpilih di Malaysia iaitu Persicaria hydropiper, Citrus hystrix, Murraya koenigii, Etlingera elatior, Cymbopogon citratus dan Kaempferia galanga telah ditentukan. Aktiviti anti-oksida telah dianalisis menggunakan kaedah pengurangan kuasa anti-oksida Ferik (FRAP), pelunturan β-karotena dan kapasiti penyerapan radikal oksigen (ORAC). Kaedah cakera serapan telah digunakan untuk menentukan aktiviti anti-bakteria terhadap enam jenis bakteria. Alkaloid, flavonoid, saponin, tannin, terpenoid dan steroid telah dikesan di dalam ekstrak herba. Ekstrak P. hydropiper mempunyai aktiviti anti-oksida tertinggi iaitu 1676.67 mM TE/g berat ekstrak dan 11.20 mmol TE/g berat ekstrak, masing-masing dalam ujian FRAP dan ujian ORAC. Walau bagaimanapun, ekstrakM. koenigii menunjukkan perencatan tertinggi iaitu 61.8% dalam kaedah pelunturan β-karotena antara sampel, tetapi lebih rendah daripada standard BHA/BHT. EkstrakM. koenigii juga menunjukkan aktiviti yang paling berkesan terhadap tiga bakteria Gram-positif. Aromatik herba di Malaysia seperti P. hydropiper dan M. koenigii telah didapati mempamerkan aktiviti-aktiviti pengantioksidaan dan pengantibakteriaan yang tinggi.

Kata kunci: Anti-bakteria; anti-oksida; ekstrak etanol; fitokimia; herba

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*Corresponding author; email: noriham985@salam.uitm.edu.my