Ethanol is acknowledged as a good solvent for polyphenol extraction and is safe for human consumption. Therefore, it usually used in the extraction process of plant sample. However ethanol should be evaporated to obtain pure extract of the samples. Nevertheless, temperature involved during evaporation process would affect the antioxidant activity of the plant extract. Thus, the purpose of this study was to find out the effect of temperature used during evaporation of ethanol towards antioxidant activity of Ficus carica leaves extract. Dried powder of F. carica leaves were subjected to three sets of processing method which involve different temperatures: Set A involved maceration with 70% ethanol, followed by evaporation of ethanol in rotary evaporator at 60 o C for 12 hours, set B involved maceration with 70% ethanol, followed by evaporation of ethanol in vacuum oven at 45 o C for 12 hours, while set C involved maceration with 70% ethanol, followed by evaporation of ethanol at 25 o C (room temperature) in fume chamber for 72 hours. Antioxidant activity of extracts from each set were measured using two different in-vitro assays, including scavenging abilities on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) and total phenolic content (TPC). F. carica extract from set B showed the highest antioxidant power in DPPH (3.78 mg/ml) and TPC (266.96 mg GAE/g) compared to set A and C. Thus, it can be concluded that temperature of 45 o C could promote the antioxidant activities, while high temperature would decrease the antioxidant abilities of F. carica leaves extract.

Phytochemical assessments were conducted on the plant part of Tongkat ali (Eurycoma longifolia). The objective of this study was to identify agro-ecological that influence favourably the growth and eurycomanone content of planted Tongkat ali. The samples were collected at throughout Peninsular Malaysia such as from Gua Musang (Kelantan), Jengka (Pahang), Kluang (Johor) and Beseri (Perlis). Traditionally, every part of the plant especially the roots were used as an afterbirth tonic, reducing fevers, curing mouth ulcers and to treat intestinal worms. Organic solvent was used for extraction which followed by fractionation between chloroform and water. The water fraction was fractionated again with n-butanol. Eurycomanone content in n-butanol fraction was analyzed using HPLC. The highest concentration of eurycomanone content in parts of Tongkat ali (TA) were 6.0568 (leaves), 0.1415 (twigs), 0.0365 (top of stems), 0.0633 (middle of stems), 0.0673 (bottom of stems), 0.3533 (roots) and 5.1137 µg/mL (root barks).

Phytochemical studies were conducted on the stem bark, stem, root and fruit of Goniothalamus ridleyi (Annonaceae) collected at Post Brooke, Gua Musang, Kelantan, Malaysia. Extraction using organic solvent followed by extensive purification using standard procedure afforded an epoxystyryllactone, 5-acetoxyisogoniothalamin oxide (1) from the stem bark and fruit; a styryllactone, 5-acetoxygoniothalamin (2) and a styrylpyrone, dehydrogoniothalamin (3) from the stem and root; a styryllactone, 5-hydroxygoniothalamin (4) from the root and styrylpyrone as well as goniothalamin (5) from the fruit. These compounds were characterized using spectroscopic techniques.

In the title compound, C13H12O3, the pyran ring adopts a half-chair conformation with a C atom deviating from the least-squares plane of the remaining ring atoms by 0.606 (2) Å. This plane and that of the benzene ring make a dihedral angle of 44.18 (6)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked through O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds into infinite chains along the b axis, and these chains are cross-linked by C—H⋯O hydrogen bonded into sheets lying parallel to the bc plane. The layers are further connected via C—H⋯π inter­actions to form a three-dimensional supra­molecular structure.

A preliminary transcriptomic analysis of lichen Dirinaria sp.