Metabolic Fingerprinting of Sauropus androgynus (L.) Merr. Leaf Extracts

Abstract

INTRODUCTION The leaves of Sauropus androgynus have been traditionally used in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia as food and herbal supplement for increasing human breast milk production. It is worth noting that different concentrations of metabolites in herbal medicine, cultivated in several different geographic locations, may result in different therapeutic effects. OBJECTIVES The present study was aimed to identify the metabolic profiles of S.androgynus extracts. This is the first report on metabolomic study of S.androgynus leaf extracts from different geographic locations. MATERIALS AND METHODS S. androgynus leaf extracts were subjected to study the metabolic fingerprinting using Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) method. The chemical compositions of the extracts were investigated using GC-MS (Agilent 6890) coupled to a Agilent mass spectrometry detector (5973 network) and NIST mass spectrometer database (Wiley, W8N05ST.L). Chromatogram acquisition, automated peak deconvolution and library searches were performed using Agilent GC-MS workstation in combination with the Automated Mass Spectral Deconvolution and Identification System (AMDIS 32, version 2.69, 2010). S.androgynus data from various locations were grouped and classified by Principle Component Analysis (PCA) and Cluster Analysis, respectively. RESULTS The largest part of the metabolic profile of S.androgynus was composed of fatty acids and their esters, such as myristic acid, palmitic acid, methyl-linoleic, methyl-stearic; diterpene and vitamin. Other major components such as phytol and isophytol were also found in the S.androgynus leaf extracts. The samples from Purwosari alone was merged into one group or a cluster and the other samples were merged into the other cluster, while samples from East Surabaya and Trenggalek showed the close relationship in score plot of PCA and in the dendogram. CONCLUSION From this study it is obvious that S.androgynus leaf extracts from several various different geographic locations contain many biologically active compounds in various concentrations. This clearly indicated that different geographical conditions could influence the metabolic process in S.androgynus, by changing the metabolic pathway or modifying the enzyme responsible for the metabolic process.