Effect of Extraction Techniques on Yield, Total Phenolic Content, Total Flavonoid Content and its Antioxidant Activity of Leaves, Stems and Roots from Cassia alata Linn

Abstract

Cassia alata Linn. (Senna alata) or commonly known as “gelenggang” in Malaysia, has been reported to have therapeutic properties and introduced as a resource for traditional remedies for thousand years. Its therapeutic properties were including antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, anthelmintic, antilipogenic, antidiabetic, dermatophytic, and anti-hyperlipidemic [1].
 
 In this study, the use of soxhlet extraction and ultrasonic assisted extraction for different parts of C. alata were investigated. For each extraction techniques, the amount of sample, volume of solvent extraction and extraction period were different. Hexane was used as the extraction solvent. The total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and its antioxidant activities were evaluated using Folin-Ciocalteu’s method, aluminum chloride colorimetric assay, and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, respectively. 
 
 The experimental results showed the highest yield of extract in leaves (4.86±0.24%), stems (0.75±0.09%) and roots (0.59±0.01%) were achieved by using soxhlet extraction technique. The results of TPC and TFC were varied from 0.049±0.004 mg GAE/g DW to 0.185±0.004 mg GAE/g DW and 0.023±0.001 mg QE/g DW to 0.203±0.007 mg QE/g DW, respectively. The highest were recorded from the soxhlet extraction for both of TPC and TFC results. Meanwhile, the radical scavenging activity was the highest from the roots of C. alata, by soxhlet extraction at 21.663±2.097% (60 µg/ml), with the IC50 value at 9.96 µg/ml (Table 1).
 These findings suggest that the selection of soxhlet extraction as a technique to extract C. alata using hexane was more effective in comparison to ultrasonic assisted extraction. For the further references on the potential of this technique, it is suggested that this study is further analyzed for the identification of its bio-active compounds.