Context: Moringa oleifera is the famous plant that has been used as medicinal plant for diverse pharmacological activity. Aims: To evaluate the total phenolic, total flavonoid, quercetin content as well as the antioxidant activity of standardized extract of Moringa oleifera (Lamk) leaf, collected from three regions with different elevation. Materials and Methods: The leaves were extracted by maceration method using ethanol 96% and evaporated by rotary evaporator to obtain the viscous extract. The determination of total phenolic and total flavonoid were performed by spectroscopic method, while the quercetin concentration were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The antioxidant activity was evaluated by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. Results: Ethanolic extracts of Moringa oleifera leaf from region with medium altitude (Sigi regency) showed higher total phenolic, total flavonoid, quercetin concentration and antioxidant activity than regions with low and high altitude (Parigi and Palu cities). Conclusion: This study reveals the potency of standardized extracts of Moringa oleifera growing in medium altitude (Sigi regency) to be developed as antioxidant herbal medicine.

This study was aimed to determine the physical and nutritional quality of fermented rice straw in various starters additions. This study used a non-factorial Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 5 treatments and 4 replications. The treatments consisted of: P0 = Fermented rice straw without starter, P1 = Fermented rice straw + Starbio Probiotic, P2 = Fermented rice straw + FM Probiotic, P3 = Fermented rice straw + MOL Banana hump, P4 = Fermented rice straw + Mikrostar LA2. The variables observed in this study ware physical qualities which include color, flavor, and texture and the quality of nutrients consisting of dry matters, organic matters, crude proteins, crude fibers, and crude fat. The results of this study showed that the treatment of the addition of different starters in the fermentation process of rice straw significantly affect (P<0.05) on organic matter and fermented rough straw fiber and did not significantly affect on physical quality, dry matter, crude protein and crude fat. The addition of various starters in the fermentation process of rice straw can change the physical quality of rice straw from the typical physical characteristics of rice straw. The addition of starters using MOL banana hump (P3) significantly reduced the levels of organic matter (70.59%) and crude fiber (18.87%) and tended to increase crude protein levels (8.46%). The conclusion of this study is the addition of various starters in the fermentation process of rice straw shows the same physical quality and is able to improve the nutrition quality of rice straw.

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.

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.

BACKGROUND: Propolis contains caffeic acid compounds, which are proven to have pharmacological effects as an anti-inflammatory. However, its effectiveness is hampered by the poor solubility of caffeic acid. Here, we report developing the nanoemulgel approach containing propolis extract as an active ingredient and oleic acid as a permeation enhancer for transdermal delivery of caffeic acid. AIM: This study aims to determine the effect of oleic acid concentration on increasing caffeic acid permeation in the skin and obtain a nanoemulgel formula with desired physical characteristics and stability. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Propolis was macerated with 70% ethanol; the total phenolic content was measured by ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometer, and the levels of caffeic acid in the extracts and nanoemulgel preparations were finally determined using ultra-fast liquid chromatography. Formulas were made using various concentrations of oleic acid, namely, 1.25%w/w (Formula F1); 2.5%w/w (Formula F2); 5%w/w (Formula F3), respectively; and 1.25%w/w without propolis extract (Formula F4) as a comparison. RESULTS: The results obtained from analysis of variance statistical exhibited that the difference in oleic acid concentrations in four formulas significantly affected (p < 0.05) particle size, polydispersity index, spreadability, adhesion, freeze-thaw, permeation, and retention test. However, there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) on pH and viscosity before and after 4 weeks of storage and zeta potential test. The highest amount of permeation and retention was found in F3 and F2, respectively, and all formulas tended to follow zero-order drug release kinetics. Furthermore, the results showed that the number of percent’s permeated in a row was 3.74% (F1); 5.58% (F2); 11.67% (F3), and F2 was the formula with the most optimal retention amount with a percentage of 43.13% at 24 h. CONCLUSION: This study shows a promising delivery system for increasing the effectiveness of natural lipophilic compounds to treat inflammation in the skin.