Antioxidant activity of Camphor leaves extract based on variation solvent

Abstract

Since the ancient time, camphor’s tree has been used as one of the traditional medicines to cure wounds. It is believed to have active component that can heal the wounds. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to prepared crude extracts of camphor leaves with different polarity organic solvents using a hot extraction (Soxhlet) and cold extraction (maceration) method and assessing the antioxidant activity by the spectroscopic. The dried camphor leaves were crushed into powder form (size - 250 μm) and subjected to extraction using different polarity organic solvents such as hexane, chloroform and ethanol to extract chemical compounds from the leaves. DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) method was used to determine the antioxidant activity due to its characteristics as a stable free radical and acts as an indicator of scavenging activity. Quantitative analysis found that all extract shown a significant antioxidant activity. The ethanol extracts resulting highest antioxidant activities than other extracts. The highest inhibition percentage (87%) was found in the hot extraction method extracts compared to chloroform (40.4%) and hexane (12%) extracts, meanwhile cold extraction resulting to lower inhibition percentage. The yield obtained from cold extraction is higher than hot extraction. However, it contains higher impurities as compared to hot extraction. These finding is proven that camphor leaves with high antioxidant properties is suitable for medicine composition, especially related to cure wounds.