Abstract
Kacip Fatimah (Labisia pumila Blume), one of the most famous and widely used herbs, especially in Southeast Asia, is found to have interesting bioactive compounds and displays health promoting properties. In this study, the antioxidant activities of the methanol extracts of leaves, stems and roots of three varieties of L. pumila (var. alata, pumila and lanceolata) were evaluated in an effort to compare and validate the medicinal potential of this indigenous Malaysian herb species. The antioxidant activity determined by the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, as well as the total amount of phenolics and flavonoids were the highest in the leaves, followed by the stems and roots in all the varieties. A similar trend was displayed by the ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) activity, suggesting that the L. pumila varieties possess high foliar antioxidant properties. At low FRAP activity concentrations, the values of the leaves’ inhibition activity in the three varieties were significantly higher than those of the stems and roots, with var. alata exhibiting higher antioxidant activities and total contents of phenolics and flavonoids compared to the varieties pumila and lanceolata. The high production of secondary metabolites and antioxidant activities in var. alata were firmly related to low nitrogen content and high C/N ratio in plant parts. The study also demonstrated a positive correlation between secondary metabolite content and antioxidant activities, and revealed that the consumption of L. pumila could exert several beneficial effects by virtue of its antioxidant activity.
Highlights
The process of oxidation in the human body damages cell membranes and their structure, including cellular proteins, lipids and DNA, which can cause mutations and contribute to the development of chronic diseases such as cancer [1,2]
Total phenolics and flavonoids in L. pumila were influenced by the interaction between varieties and plant parts (P ≤ 0.01)
Total phenolics content was significantly higher in the leaf of var. alata than the leaf of var. pumila and var. lanceolata by approximately 5% and 18%, respectively; followed by the stemd of var. alata, pumila and lanceolata, that recorded 0.98, 0.87 and 0.85 mg gallic acid/g dry weight, respectively (Table 1)
Summary
The process of oxidation in the human body damages cell membranes and their structure, including cellular proteins, lipids and DNA, which can cause mutations and contribute to the development of chronic diseases such as cancer [1,2]. Labisia pumila Blume (Myrsinacea family), locally known as Kacip Fatimah in Malaysia, has received a lot of attention among scientists, herbalists and the herbal industry This is because L. pumila is a popular herb that has long been recognized by the traditional practitioner to possess therapeutic properties and high levels of phenolic and flavonoid compounds [19,20]. These polyphenolic compounds have received considerable attention because of their protective role against cancer and heart disease, attributed to their antioxidative activity against reactive oxygen species, which was reported to be higher than that of vitamins C and E [21].
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