Kersen (Muntingia calabura L) fruits have the potential to be used as an active ingredient in sunscreens because of phenolic and flavonoid content that can absorb UV rays. This study aims to determine the percentage of erythema/pigmentation transmission and SPF value as parameters for sunscreen activity.  Kersen fruits were extracted by maceration using 96% ethanol. The ethanol extract of Kersen Fruits was also fractionated to separate the components of the active compounds based on the polarity level using n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and ethanol as solvents. The test was carried out using the in vitro method by measuring the ability of the material to absorb ultraviolet light at a wavelength of 292.5-372.5 nm. This research was conducted at concentrations of 100, 200, 400, 600, and  800 µg/mL for ethanol, lyophilisate, n-hexane, and ethanol fractions, while the ethyl acetate fraction concentrations are 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 µg/mL. The results showed the best value at the ethyl acetate fraction concentration of 250 µg/mL with % Te of 5.28 and % Tp of 28.65 and the SPF value of 16.54. Based on the % Te and Tp, the ethyl acetate fraction exhibited protection against erythema and pigmentation with the category of extra protection and based on the SPF value with the category of ultra protection.

Acetylcholinesterase (AchE) is an enzyme involved in the metabolism of Acetylcholine [Ach] cholinergic synapses in the central and peripheral nervous systems. As a result, AChE inhibitors promote an increase in the concentration and length of Ach synaptic activity. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AchEIs) are currently considered the best therapeutic agents for Alzheimer’s patients. The potential sources of the current AChE inhibitors are predominantly plants. However, some of these drugs are known to have disadvantages such as limited half-life or side-effect such as hepatotoxicity. Marine microorganisms are a potential new source of the enzyme inhibitors. Since their rich and diverse metabolites have a wide range of biological activities, one of them is an actinomycetes of special interest in antibiotics. The purpose of this study was to screen AChE inhibitors from marine-derived actinomycetes using a simple method, thin layer chromatography (TLC). In addition, TLC was used for the determination of solvents for adsorption of actinomycetes AchE inhibitors. The results showed that the combination of chloroform/methanol = 80/20 had the best AchE inhibitor separation performance, while the combination of DCM/methanol = 90/10 should be considered if the gradient elution was selected during the separation process.

Context: Premature aging usually occurred due to free radicals reducing the skins’ physiological functions. Muntingia calabura, a plant containing rich antioxidants, has the potential to overcome this problem. Aims: To evaluate the antioxidant capacity of M. calabura in inhibiting the premature aging process, to be potentially developed into an antiaging active ingredient. Methods: The samples were extracted using ethanol 96%, and processed into n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and ethanol fractions, respectively. Total phenolic content was determined, followed by the evaluation of antioxidant capacity through DPPH, FRAP, and ABTS assay. Further, anti-elastase was conducted using human neutrophil elastase as a skin degradation enzyme, followed by an anti-collagenase test. Finally, normal cell proliferation was also evaluated via the MTT method measuring cell viability on HDFa cells. Results: As the results, ethanol extract, ethyl acetate fraction, and ethanol fraction showed a strong antioxidant effect, having great capacity reducing DPPH, ABTS radicals, and also iron reduction, in contrast to n-hexane fraction that exhibited only weak activity. The antioxidant trend capacities were found directly correlated to total phenolic contents. Furthermore, the ethyl acetate fraction was found to have optimum activity in inhibiting elastase and collagenase enzymes, showing a similar impact on cell viability. Conclusions: The ethyl acetate fraction from M. calabura exhibits the prospect for further development to support its effectiveness as an active ingredient in antiaging cosmetics.

Mulberry is considered as an important plant in traditional Chinese medicine, due to its various compounds, including phenols and flavonoids. These flavonoids have antioxidant activities so that can be a potential anticancer candidate. The aims of this study were to determining antioxidant activity, phenolic content, and potential anticancer activity in Mulberry stem extract. The extraction was carried out by maceration using ethanol as the solvent, antioxidant activity test using ABTS (2,2′-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) method, phenolic content determination using Folin-Ciocalteu reagents, and anticancer activity test using the MTT (3-(4,5-dimetiltiazol-2-il)-2,5-difenil tetrazolium bromida) method on WiDr cancer cells and Vero cells. The result of total phenolic Mulberry stem extract was 35.9%, the antioxidant activity value was 83.18 µg / mL, the IC50 value for anticancer activity for WiDr cells was 71.24 µg / mL and Vero cells IC50 value was 154.241 µg / mL. It could be concluded that the Mulberry stem ethanol extract had strong antioxidant activity and had the potential anticancer selectively against cancer cells WiDr.

The public widely uses kersen (Muntingia calabura L) fruit for consumption and treatment because Kersen fruit has various vitamins, minerals, and secondary metabolite compounds that reduce free radicals. The purpose of this study was to see the effectiveness of kersen fruit as an antioxidant agent. In this study, the samples used were ethanol extract (EE), Aqueous ethanol fraction (EF), ethyl acetate fraction (EAF), and n-hexane (HF) fraction from kersen fruit (Muntingia calabura L). The samples were evaluated by observing the antioxidant activity profile using various methods, i.e., nitric oxide, β-carotene bleaching assay, hydroxyl radicals, and iron chelating. The results of this study showed that the IC50 values of EE (31.05 μg/mL), AEF (33.86 μg/mL), FEA (40.48 μg/ml) gave powerful antioxidant activity while HF showed weak results (459 μg/ml). In the nitric oxide method. The hydroxyl radical method with IC50 values of 32.06 μg/mL (EE), 38.73 μg/mL (EF), 22.18 μg/mL (EAF) gave very strong activity, and 53.37 μg/mL (HF) with strong activity. The β-carotene bleaching method gave powerful antioxidant activity results with IC50 values <50 μg/mL in each sample. The Iron Chelation method showed weak antioxidant activity (IC50 > 200 μg/mL) of each sample. Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that the antioxidant activity of extracts and fractions in kersen fruit has a different activity profile according to the test method used.