Establishment of a standardized ethanolic extract of Avicennia officinalis leaves in Vietnam

Abstract

The mangrove plant Avicennia officinalis is widespread throughout the subtropical coast and is known for its many pharmacological properties, such as antibacterial, antiulcer, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and antioxidant. This study determined the physicochemical parameters of the standardized extract, qualitative by phytochemical screening and thin layer chromatography (TLC), qualitative total phenolic content, and the content of the marker compound by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Compounds such as p-coumaric acid and cinnamic acid have been found to be major phenolic acids in the leaves of this plant. These results provided useful information for the evaluation of the quality of Avicennia officinalis raw materials and its commercial products. The parameters of the ethanol extract of Avicennia officinalis leaves were obtained as follows: the loss of dry weight (10.9±2.09%), total ash content (22.31%), microbiological limits achieved to meet the requirements of medicinal standards, and total heavy metal content not detected. The content of total phenolics determined amounted to 81.83 mg GAE/g extract. The quantification method by HPLC was validated according to AOAC, and the content of two markers in the extract was p-coumaric acid (1.19 mg/g) and cinnamic acid (3.82 mg/g). The outputs of this research will be standardized extracts that’s the source of medicinal plants in Vietnam.