Antioxidant, Cytotoxic Activities and Total Phenolic Content of Four Indonesian Medicinal Plants

Waras Nurcholis (Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Mathematic and Natural Sciencies, Agricultural University. Biopharmaca Research Center, Bogor Agricultural University)
Bambang Pontjo Priosoeryanto (Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Mathematic and Natural Sciencies, Agricultural University. Department of Veterinary Clinic Reproduction and Phatology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Bogor Agricultural University.)
Edy Djauhari Purwakusumah (Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Mathematic and Natural Sciencies, Agricultural University. Biopharmaca Research Center, Bogor Agricultural University)
Takeshi Katayama (Department of Applied Biological Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University)
Toshisada Suzuki (Department of Applied Biological Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University)

VALENSI
Jurnal Valensi Volume 2, No.4, Mei 2012

The crude ethanol extracts of four Indonesian medicinal plants namely Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb.,Phyllanthus niruri Linn., Andrographis paniculata Ness., and Curcuma aeruginosa Roxb. wereexamined for their antioxidant (radical scavenging) activity using 2, 2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) free radical and cytotoxicity using brine shrimp lethality test (BSLT). The total phenoliccontent was used the Folin-Ciocalteu method. IC50 values for DPPH radical scavenging activityranged from 14.5 to 178.5 μg/ml, with P. niruri having the lowest value and therefore the mostpotent, and C. aeruginosa having the highest value. LC50 values for BSLT ranged from 210.3 to593.2 μg/ml, with C. xanthorrhiza and A. paniculata having the lowest and highest values,respectively. The total phenolic content of the Indonesian plants ranged from 133.0 ±3.7 to863.3±54.7 mg tannic acid equivalent per 1 g extract, with C. aeruginosa and P. niruri having thelowest and highest values, respectively. A positive correlation between free radical scavengingactivity and the content of phenolic compounds was found in the four of Indonesian medicinal plants.