Abstract
Alocasia longiloba, locally known as ‘Keladi Candik’, has been used traditionally to treat wounds, furuncle and joint inflammations. A. longiloba can be a new source of herbal medicine against hyperuricemia by inhibiting the activity of xanthine oxidase enzyme, the enzyme which is responsible for the development of hyperuricemia in human. Existing xanthine oxidase inhibitors (XOI drugs) show several side effects on gout patients. Therefore, an alternative herbal medicine from plants, with high therapeutic property and free of side effects, are greatly needed. This study was conducted to evaluate XO inhibitory activity, chemical composition, antioxidant activity and GC-MS profile of A. longiloba. Our results showed that ethanolic petiole extract exhibited the highest XO inhibitory activity (70.40 ± 0.05%) with IC50 value of 42.71 μg/mL, followed by ethanolic fruit extracts (61.44 ± 1.24%) with the IC50 value of 51.32 μg/mL. In a parallel study, the phytochemical analysis showed the presence of alkaloid, flavonoid, terpenoids, glycoside and saponin in petiole and fruit extracts, as well as higher total phenolic and flavonoid contents and strong scavenging activity on DPPH and ABTS antioxidant assay. The GC-MS analysis of fruit and petiole extracts revealed the presence of various compounds belonging to different chemical nature, among them are limonen-6-ol, α-DGlucopyranoside, paromomycin, aziridine, phenol, Heptatriacotanol, Phen-1,2,3-dimethyl and Betulin found in ethanolic fruit extract, and Phen-1,4-diol,2,3-dimethyl-, 1-Ethynyl-3,trans(1,1-dimethylethyl), Phenol,2,6-dimethoxy-4-(2-propenyl)- and 7-Methyl-Z-tetradecen-1-olacetate found in ethanolic petiole extract. Some compounds were documented as potent anti-inflammatory and arthritis related diseases by other researchers. In this study, the efficiency of solvents to extract bioactives was found to be ethanol > water, methanol > hexane > chloroform. Together, our results suggest the prospective utilization of fruit and petiole of A. longiloba to inhibit the activity of XO enzyme.
Highlights
Medicinal plants have been used worldwide as an alternative and/or a complementary medicines
Most bioactives from A. longiloba petiole and fruits were efficiently extracted in ethanol, water and methanol > hexane > chloroform; while glycosides were extracted with all solvents, alkaloids from A. longiloba fruit were efficiently extracted with both ethanol and chloroform
Both petiole and fruit extracts contain various types of important phytochemical compounds among them are alkaloids, terpenoids and flavonoids, which have been found to be effective in the prevention and therapy of several ailments, including cancer, and to have antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-gout, anti-inflammatory, and anti-arthritis [16,17]
Summary
Medicinal plants (herbal medicines) have been used worldwide as an alternative and/or a complementary medicines. Medicinal plants are rich in a variety of important phytochemicals (active compounds), many are secondary metabolites, such as alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, saponins and many others. These compounds possess antioxidant properties that are important for pharmaceuticals and drug development, as well as direct use as therapeutic agents. Antioxidants play a major role in preventing oxidation of molecules inside a cell and protecting healthy cells from damage caused by free radicals, unstable and highly reactive molecules that the human body produces as a byproduct of metabolism and other pressures. Protection against oxidative damage/cell death is the pivotal mechanism for preventing the occurrence of most diseases [3,4,5]
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