Abstract
Plant of Muntingia calabura L are often known as “kersen”, "seri or "cherry". Leaves of Muntingia calabura L. contains many benefits but its properties are still little known to the public. It contains secondary metabolites which have many uses. This study was aimed to determine the content of secondary metabolites in this leaf. Leaves extracts were obtained by maceration extraction for 3 times 24 hours using polar, semi-polar and non-polar solvents to determine the solubility of secondary metabolite compounds in each solvent. The solvents used were ethanol, ethyl acetate and n-hexane. The leaveswere dissolved a lot in polar solvents, marked by the formation of a dark green color in ethanol-series extracts, the color fades more in semi-polar and non-polar solvents. The three leaves extracts were tested for secondary metabolite contents by phytochemical screening tests. Phytochemical screening was an initial selection stage to detect classes of chemical compounds contained in plant. Phytochemical screening were included alkaloid, terpenoid, steroid, tannin, flavonoidand saponin tests. Based on the results of phytochemical screening tests, the leaf was contained several secondary metabolite compounds, namely flavonoids, saponins, steroids, terpenoids, alkaloids, phenols and tannins.
Highlights
One of the plants that contains many properties and useful as a medicine is the Muntingia calabura L. plant
The results of maceration extraction using three solvents produced a series of leaf extracts in a thick green ethanol solvent.The green color faded on ethyl acetate and n-hexane solvents
This showed that the leaf samples were more bound to polar solvents
Summary
One of the plants that contains many properties and useful as a medicine is the Muntingia calabura L. plant. Series plant taxonomies1are:Kingdom: Plantae, Division: Spermatophyta, Class: Dicotyledoneae, Order: Malvales, Family: Elaeocarpaceae, Genus: Muntingia, and Species: Muntingia calabura L. The names of this plant in some countries such as Jamaican cherry, Panama berry, Singapore cherry in English and in Dutch are called Japanse kers, so that they are taken as kersen in Indonesian. Flavonoids have antioxidant properties, these compounds act as free radical scavengers because they contain hydroxyl groups. Due to it is a reducing agent, flavonoids can act as hydrogen donors to free radicals.[2]
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