Quy Diem Do, Artik Elisa Angkawijaya, Phuong Lan Tran-Nguyen, Lien Huong Huynh, Felycia Edi Soetaredjo, Suryadi Ismadji, Yi-Hsu Ju
Limnophila aromatica is commonly used as a spice and a medicinal herb in Southeast Asia. In this study, water and various concentrations (50%, 75%, and 100%) of methanol, ethanol, and acetone in water were used as solvent in the extraction of L. aromatica. The antioxidant activity, total phenolic content, and total flavonoid content of the freeze-dried L. aromatica extracts were investigated using various in vitro assays. The extract obtained by 100% ethanol showed the highest total antioxidant activity, reducing power and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity. The same extract also exhibited the highest phenolic content (40.5 mg gallic acid equivalent/g of defatted L. aromatica) and the highest flavonoid content (31.11 mg quercetin equivalent/g of defatted L. aromatica). The highest extraction yield was obtained by using 50% aqueous acetone. These results indicate that L. aromatica can be used in dietary applications with a potential to reduce oxidative stress. © 2013, Food and Drug Administration, Taiwan.
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 106-07, Keelung Road, Taiwan; Department of Chemical Engineering, Can Tho University, Can Tho City, Viet Nam; Department of Chemical Engineering, Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University, Surabaya 60114, Kalijudan 37, Indonesia