Biological Activity And Phytochemical Analysis

J Acupunct Meridian Stud 2011;4(1):75−79

B RI E F R EP ORT

Biological Activity and Phytochemical Analysis of Three Indonesian Medicinal Plants, Murraya koenigii, Syzygium polyanthum and Zingiber purpurea
Irawan Wijaya Kusuma1*, Harlinda Kuspradini1, Enos Tangke Arung1, Farida Aryani2, Yu-Hong Min3, Jin-Sook Kim4, Yong-ung Kim5*
Department of Forest Products, Faculty of Forestry,Mulawarman University, Samarinda, Indonesia Department of Forest Products, Polytechnic of Agriculture, Samarinda, Indonesia 3 Department of Herbal Skin Care, College of Bio-industry, Daegu Haany University, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea 4 Department of Secondary Special Education, College of Health and Therapy, Daegu Haany University, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea 5 Department of Herbal Pharmaceutical Engineering,College of Bio-industry, Daegu Haany University, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea
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Received: Nov 15, 2010 Accepted: Jan 6, 2011 KEY WORDS:
antimicrobial activity; antioxidant activity; cytotoxicity; medicinal plants; phytochemical analysis

Abstract 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-diphenyl2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay. Cytotoxicity wasinvestigated 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 rhizomeextract possessed the highest cytotoxic effect with a LC50 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 workrevealed 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.

*Corresponding authors. Irawan Wijaya Kusuma, Department of Forest Products, Faculty of Forestry, Mulawarman University, Samarinda, Indonesia, 75118. Yong-ung Kim, Department of HerbalPharmaceutical Engineering, College of Bio-industry, Daegu Haany University, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea. E-mail: kusuma_iw@yahoo.com OR ykim@dhu.ac.kr ©2011 Korean Pharmacopuncture Institute

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I.W. Kusuma et al sulfoxide), sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, acetic anhydride, potassium iodide and peptone were purchased from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany). Ascorbic acid, 1-naphtol and bismuth (III) nitratewere obtained from Sigma (St. Louis, MO, USA). Nutrient agar was obtained from Difco (Detroit, MI, USA). Other chemicals were of HPLC grade or the highest purity commercially available.

1. Introduction
Globally, research into biologically active natural products from plants has attracted many natural product chemists. Various plants have been examined for their biological activities and in somecases active substances have been isolated and identified. We believe in Indonesia most research activity into natural products is still limited to the inventory of folkloric information and utilization of various plants and trees, meaning that obtaining scientific proof for their biological activity is still challenging. Murraya koenigii (L) Spreng., Syzygium polyanthum (Wight) Walp., and...