Plant vegetative stages and drying methods affect flavonoid content of Clinacanthus nutans extracts

Background: Clinacanthus nutans, also known as ‘Sabah snake grass’ or ‘Belalai gajah’, is a herb well known locally for its medicinal values. The primary chemical constituents of the leaves are schaftoside, vitexin, isovitexin, orientin and isoorientin, and antiviral activity is shown by two glycoglycerolipids. Despite the importance of C. nutans, complete information with respect to commercial production and postharvest handling of the herb in the local herbal industry is still lacking. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the optimum postharvest handling processes that could retain the quality of phytochemicals of C. nutans.Materials and Methods: The flavonoid compounds of C. nutans were analysed by using ultra fast liquid chromatography (UFLC). Total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were determined using a spectrophotometer.Results: The total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity in C. nutans were found to be higher in the young vegetative stage than in the mature vegetative stage. Flavonoid compounds (schaftoside, isovitexin, vitexin and orientin) were also found to be highest in the young vegetative plant compared to the mature vegetative plant. All of the assayed phytochemicals and flavonoid compounds levels were found to be highest in oven dried samples compared to the sun, air and solar dried samples.Conslusion: This study suggests that oven-drying young vegetative C. nutans plant material is the optimum method to retain postharvest quality.Keywords: Flavonoid, Sabah snake grass, schaftoside, vitexin, dryin

Effective microorganism pre-treatment on oil palm empty fruit bunch fibre for cultivation of Volvariella volvacea (Bull.) singer

Pre-treatment with effective microorganisms (EM) for the cultivation of Volvariella volvacea using oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) was proposed to increase yield. The effect of different EM doses on the mycelium growth and yield was observed. The treatment was carried out using a combination of two parameters: composting times (5 days (T1), 10 days (T2) and 15 days (T3) and dosages of EM (0% (E1), 10% (E2), 20% (E3) and 30% (E4). While the composition of EFB was analysed to compare the changes before and after the pre-treatments. It was determined that EM pre-treatments of 20% and 30% resulted in significantly faster mycelial growth compared to the other treatments. The highest yield of V. volvacea was observed at T2E4 (10d, 30% EM) with 271.5±57.28 g or biological efficiency (B.E) of 9.11%. The highest average weight per fruiting body (FB) was obtained at T1E3 (5d, 20% EM) with 14 g, while T2E4 (10d, 30% EM) yielded the highest number of harvested FB with 42. Cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin were reduced in all treatments tested. Both EM dosages and composting times significantly affected the yield of V. volvacea. EFB fibre was a potential substrate for the cultivation of V. volvacea

Plant Vegetative Stages and Drying Methods Affect Flavonoid Content of Clinacanthus nutans Extracts

Background: Clinacanthus nutans, also known as ‘Sabah snake grass’ or ‘Belalai gajah’, is a herb well known locally for its medicinal values. The primary chemical constituents of the leaves are schaftoside, vitexin, isovitexin, orientin and isoorientin, and antiviral activity is shown by two glycoglycerolipids. Despite the importance of C. nutans, complete information with respect to commercial production and postharvest handling of the herb in the local herbal industry is still lacking. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the optimum postharvest handling processes that could retain the quality of phytochemicals of C. nutans. Materials and Methods: The flavonoid compounds of C. nutans were analysed by using ultra fast liquid chromatography (UFLC). Total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were determined using a spectrophotometer. Results: The total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity in C. nutans were found to be higher in the young vegetative stage than in the mature vegetative stage. Flavonoid compounds (schaftoside, isovitexin, vitexin and orientin) were also found to be highest in the young vegetative plant compared to the mature vegetative plant. All of the assayed phytochemicals and flavonoid compounds levels were found to be highest in oven dried samples compared to the sun, air and solar dried samples. Conslusion: This study suggests that oven-drying young vegetative C. nutans plant material is the optimum method to retain postharvest quality

Phytochemical composition in hexane and methanolic leaf extract of Vernonia amygdalina

Vernonia amygdalina or known as Pokok Bismillah in Malaysia is commonly used for medicinal purposes due to their pharmacological effects. The present study aimed to identify the chemical composition by GC-MS analysis of hexane and methanolic crude extract of V. amygdalina. Thirty-two and twenty-two components were identified from their fragmentation pattern in hexane and methanolic extract, respectively. Major components in hexane extract dominated by tetrapentacontane (21.56%), nonacosane (13.06%), squalene (12.77%), phytol (8.73%), δ-7,25-stigmastadienol (7.20%) and α-tocopherol (5.18%). Meanwhile, methanolic extract were linolenic acid (21.94%), hexadecanoic acid (15.51%), 2,3-hexanedione (12.40%), linoleic acid (10.45%), phytol (8.81%) and decanamide (5.92%). These compounds could be useful for biomedical activities and as a therapeutic agent