Piper betle (L) is a popular medicinal plant in Asia. Plant leaves have been used as a traditional medicine to treat various health conditions. It is highly abundant and inexpensive, therefore promoting further research and industrialization development, including in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Articles published from 2010 to 2020 were reviewed in detail to show recent updates on the antibacterial and antifungal properties of betel leaves. This current review showed that betel leaves extract, essential oil, preparations, and isolates could inhibit microbial growth and kill various Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria as well as fungal species, including those that are multidrug-resistant and cause serious infectious diseases. P. betle leaves displayed high efficiency on Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans. The ratio of MBC/MIC indicated bactericidal and bacteriostatic effects of P. betle leaves, while MFC/MIC values showed fungicidal and fungistatic effects. This review also provides a list of phytochemical compounds in betel leaves extracts and essential oils, safety profiles, and value-added products of betel leaves. Some studies also showed that the combination of betel leaves extract and essential oil with antibiotics (streptomycin, chloramphenicol and gentamicin) could provide potentiating antibacterial properties. Moreover, this review delivers a scientific resume for researchers in respected areas and manufacturers who want to develop betel leaves-based products.

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Depression is a mental disorder with an increased prevalence. Other than conventional antidepressants, essential oils have been used in aromatherapy as a complementary and alternative medicine to reduce depression. In the current study, the antidepressant-like activity of the inhalation of essential oils from Michelia alba (MAEO) and Plumeria alba (PAEO) flowers was analyzed using the forced swim test. The immobility time of mice from tested groups was evaluated statistically by the non-parametric Kruskal Wallis test, followed by the Mann Whitney post hoc test. Also, the characterization of both essential oils was determined by refractive index, solubility, and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrophotometry (GC-MS) analysis. PAEO showed stronger antidepressant-like activity than MAEO (p<0.05) and it was equal to the positive control (essential oil of Lavandula angustifolia) (p>0.05). The GC-MS analysis revealed some calming agents in MAEO and PAEO such as linalool, linalyl acetate, phenylethyl alcohol, and methyl anthranilate.

Algae are a photosynthetic organism, affordable and naturally rich in nutrients and a valuable source of bioactive substances such as natural pigments. Bulung sangu (Gracilaria sp.) is red macroalgae that wildly grows and distributes in Bali. The aim of this work was to optimize the solvent to extract the chlorophyll content of Bulung sangu. The pigment extraction was carried out using different solvents (100% methanol, 100% ethanol, and 90% acetone). The chlorophyll contents including chlorophyll a,b,c,d and total chlorophyll were measured using spectrophotometry UV-VIS and expressed in µg/g of algae. The results showed that chlorophyll c could not be extracted using all used solvent, while chlorophyll b can only be extracted using acetone. Acetone produced the highest concentration of chlorophyll a (717.52 ± 9.71 µg/g), chlorophyll b (7.23 ± 0.24 µg/g), chlorophyll d (21.93 ± 1.07 µg/g), and chlorophyll total (746.67 ± 8.99 µg/g) compared to other solvent, that were significantly different (p<0.05). The second solvent to produce the highest concentration of chlorophyll a, d, and total chlorophyll was methanol which produced 578.77 ± 9.74 µg/g, 5.50 ± 0.12 µg/g and 584.27 ± 9.62 µg/g of chlorophyll content, respectively, followed by ethanol which produced 520.98 ± 2.52 µg/g of chlorophyll a, 3.56 ± 0.25 µg/g for chlorophyll d, and 524.54 ± 2.30 µg/g for total chlorophyll. Acetone is considered the most effective solvent to extract the chlorophyll content of Bulung sangu.