ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF N-HEXANE, DICHLOROMETHANE, ETHYL ACETATE, AND METHANOL EXTRACTS OF Litsea cubeba Lour. BARKS

Abstract

Free radicals are molecules with unstable unpaired electrons and originate from environmental pollutants and from unhealthy people's lifestyles that reduce the quality of life in the presence of various degenerative diseases from premature aging, stroke, and even cancer. Antioxidants are used to neutralize, reduce and inhibit the formation of new free radicals in the body by becoming electron donors for free radicals so that free electrons in free radicals become paired and stop damage in the body. With the presence of antioxidant compounds, oxidative stress triggered by free radicals can be stabilized and neutralized to reduce the risk of damage to body cells. Indonesia is a country rich in spice plant resources. One type of spice plant that has the potential to be developed is Attarasa (Litsea cubeba Lour.) which is widely found in the North Tapanuli area. This plant contains essential oils in the fruit, stems, roots, and leaves. This makes all parts of this plant smell good. This study aimed to determine the antioxidant activity of a fraction of Litsea cubeba Lour. barks. The fraction with n-hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, and methanol as solvent. Antioxidant activities were determined with ABTS, CUPRAC, and O-Phenanthroline method. The data were analyzed using the Principle Component Analysis (PCA) multivariate exploration technique, which was analyzed using the Minitab software. The extracts were obtained IC50 values from the ABTS (395.65 ± 0.37; 344.78 ± 0.57; 30.37 ± 0.04; 283.07 ± 0.85); CUPRAC (220.77 ± 0.21; 144.50 ± 0.26; 10.00 ± 0.01; 11.13 ± 0.04); O-Phenanthroline (798.27 ± 0.06; 410.01 ± 0.23; 175.75 ± 0.25; 32.01 ± 0.03) respectively. While the total phenol was analyzed (23.56 ± 0.56; 2.63 ± 0.01; 77.44 ± 0.56; 600.21 ± 0.54) respectively. Based on the results obtained, the ethyl acetate extract of Litsea cubeba Lour. barks have antioxidant activity with a very strong category.