Antioxidant activities of mucilage from Talinum paniculatum ('Ginseng Jawa') as affected by different extraction method

Abstract

'Ginseng Jawa' (Talinum paniculatum) is an underutilized plant scattered throughout tropical Malaysia which is commonly can be found at every home as decoration purposes. The plant also can be taken as a supplementary food. 'Ginseng Jawa' is known to contain available amount of mucilage especially in young stems and leaves. This study was undertaken to determine yield and antioxidant activities of mucilage extracted from 'Ginseng Jawa'. There were three extraction methods performed in this study namely hot water extraction method, alkaline extraction method and acidic extraction method. Main chemicals used in those extractions were sodium hydroxide for alkaline extraction, acetic acid for acidic extraction and water for hot water extraction method. The result showed that alkaline extraction method provided the highest mucilage yield (1.99%) followed by hot water extraction (1.61 %) and the lowest yield obtained from acidic extraction (1.00%). There was significant difference (p < 0.05) for yield of mucilage extracted using alkaline extraction method and acidic extraction method. The mucilage obtained from each extraction method was examined for antioxidant activities using 1,1-diphenyl2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), P-anisidine, Ferric thiocyanate (FTC) and Thiobarbituric acid (TBA)

methods. Result showed that mucilage from acidic extraction exhibited the highest percentage of DPPH scavenging activity (65.02%) followed by hot water, gum Arabic and base mucilage (55.11 % - 26.64%). There were significant differences (p < 0.05) among mucilage extracted using all methods including gum Arabic. For FTC and TBA analyses, mucilage from alkaline extraction showed the highest percentage of linoleic acid oxidation inhibition (25.60% and 59.99% respectively) and also gives the lowest value in p-anisidine analysis (0.42). In conclusion, it was found that alkaline extraction was the most suitable method for 'Ginseng Jawa' mucilage extraction as well as provided the mucilage with good antioxidant properties.