Industrial Crops and Products 41 (2013) 392–396

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Industrial Crops and Products

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/indcrop

Extraction, identification and quantitative HPLC analysis of flavonoids from

sarang semut (Myrmecodia pendan)
Adam Mekonnen Engida a , Novy S. Kasim a , Yeshitila Asteraye Tsigie a , Suryadi Ismadji b ,
Lien Huong Huynh c , Yi-Hsu Ju a,∗
a
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, 43, Sec. 4, Keelung Road, Taipei 106-07, Taiwan
b
Department of Chemical Engineering, Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University, Kalijudan 37, Surabaya 60114, Indonesia
c
Department of Chemical Engineering, Can Tho University, Can Tho City, Viet Nam

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The objective of this study was to extract and determine total contents of phenolic and flavonoid com-
Received 11 December 2011 pounds as well as to identify and quantify some flavonoids from sarang semut (Myrmecodia pendan).
Received in revised form 22 April 2012 Water bath extraction at 55 ◦ C was employed for extracting flavonoids from sarang semut. The effects
Accepted 27 April 2012
of parameters such as extraction time, composition of solvent mixture and solvent to sample ratio on
extraction were investigated. From (33 ) factorial design the optimum extracting parameters were deter-
Keywords:
mined as follows: extraction time, 4 h; ethanol/water composition, 80%; and solvent to sample ratio,
Antioxidant activity
50 ml/g. Under these optimal conditions, a yield of 13.82% was obtained. The free radical scavenging
Flavonoids
HPLC–UV/vis
activity (antioxidant activity) of the extract was evaluated using DPPH radical and it was found that the
Myrmecodia pendan IC50 occurred at 96.21 ± 9.03 ␮g/ml of extract. The total phenol and flavonoid contents were determined
Phenolics content using designed methods and found to be 330.61 ± 2.13 mg GAE/g and 63.28 ± 1.75 mg QE/g of dry extract,
respectively. The extract obtained under optimum conditions was analyzed by HPLC and five flavonoid
compounds were identified and quantified; they are kaempferol (13.767 mg/g), luteoline (0.005 mg/g),
rutine (0.003 mg/g), quercetin (0.030 mg/g) and apigenin (4.700 mg/g) of dry extract.
© 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction three rings can be formed (Martens and Mithofer, 2005; Mladenka
et al., 2010).
Flavonoids represent a highly diverse class of secondary plant One of the not-well identified medicinal plants is sarang semut
metabolites with about 9000 structures (Martens and Mithofer, (Myrmecodia pendan) which might be a new potential source of
2005). Flavonoids are polyphenolic compounds derived from therapeutic agents. Sarang semut lives as epiphyte on cajupu
2-phenylchromane commonly found in many plants, vegeta- (Melaleuca), cemara gunung (Casuarina), kaha (Castanopsis) and
bles, and flowers (Boue et al., 2003; Plochmann et al., 2007; beech (Nothophagus). It is called sarang semut since the inner part
Androutsopoulos et al., 2010; Lisa et al., 2010). They received of its hypocotyls is used as nest by ants (sarang is nest and semut
considerable attention in literature, specifically due to their bio- is ant in Bahasa Indonesian). It belongs to genus Iridomyrmex. Most
logical and physiological importance (Zin et al., 2002; Rijk et al., sarang semut plants are usually colonized by one species of ant.
2006). They have benefits to human health, including antioxi- M. pendans is colonized by ant Ochetellus species. Sarang semut
dant activities (Tian et al., 2009), metal chelation (Heim et al., is a member of Rubiaceae family with five genera. However, only
2002; Seyoum et al., 2006) and antiproliferative, anticarcinogenic, two of which have association with ants. They are Myrmecodia (45
antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antialergic, and antiviral effects species) and Hypnophytum (26 species). Hypnophytum formicarum,
(Merken and Beecher, 2000; Ajila et al., 2010; Abrham et al., 2008; M. pendans and M. tuberose are believed to have medicinal value
Barreca et al., 2011). Flavonoids are able to scavenge free radi- (Soeksmanto et al., 2010).
cals directly by hydrogen atom donation (Prochazkova et al., 2011). There is no report on identification or quantification of bioactive
Basically flavonoids are derivatives of 1,3-diphenylpropane-1-one compounds in sarang semut plant, only reports on discussing about
(C6 C3 C6 ) (Erlund, 2004; Barontini et al., 2010; Biesaga, 2011). its ecology; taxonomy and ethno botany can be found (Soeksmanto
Derived from the chalcone structure, a flavonoid class containing et al., 2010). Anti-cancer activity of this plant was tested by using
cancer cells derived from human cervix and canine breast, called
HeLa cells and MCM-B2, respectively (Soeksmanto et al., 2010). The
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +886 2 27376612; fax: +886 2 27376644. result of the research showed that the extract of sarang semut plant
E-mail address: [email protected] (Y.-H. Ju). was capable of inhibiting the growth of HeLa and MCM-B2 cells.

0926-6690/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2012.04.043
 A.M. Engida et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 41 (2013) 392–396 393

This effect may be the result of phenolic compounds especially UV-550, Japan) in 10 mm quartz cells. Anti-radical activity was
flavonoids contained in the tested extracts. based on measurement of the reducing ability of the plant
Hence the objective of this research was to extract and deter- extract toward DPPH radical. Scavenging effect was calculated as
mine total phenolic and flavonoid contents using experimental (A0 − At ) × 100/A0 , where A0 is the absorbance of the control reac-
design methods, as well as to identify and determine some indi- tion and At is the absorbance in the presence of the extract sample.
vidual flavonoids from sarang semut (M. pendan). The effective concentration of the plant extract at which 50% of
DPPH radicals are reduced (IC50 ) was calculated graphically using a
2. Materials and methods calibration curve in the linear range by plotting extract concentra-
tion vs. the corresponding scavenging effect. Data were reported as
2.1. Chemicals and materials arithmetic means ± SD for three replications. The performance of
the extracts was also compared with that of ascorbic acid.
The plant material used in this study was obtained from a tradi-
tional medicine plant store in Wamena, Papua, Indonesia. Ethanol, 2.5. Determination of total phenolics content
methanol (MeOH, HPLC grade), acetic acid (glacial analytical grade),
tert-butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ) and flavonoid standards including The total phenolics content of the plant extract was determined
catechin, (+)-epicatechin, apigenin, luteolin, myricetin, quercetin by Folin–Ciocalteu reagent (FCR) method according to Michel et al.
and rutine were purchased from Sigma Aldrich, USA. Deionized (2011). For a 2.00 ml total volume, 20 ␮l of extract, 20 ␮l of aque-
water was used for HPLC mobile phase. ous standard solutions (100–1000 ␮g/ml of gallic acid) or 20 ␮l
deionized water for blank were first mixed with 100 ␮l of FCR after
2.2. Sample preparation adding 1.58 ml deionized water and the contents were kept at room
temperature (26.5 ◦ C) for 10 min. Later 300 ␮l of Na2 CO3 aqueous
Sarang semut was washed with running tap water and then solution (20%) was added between 8 and 15 min and incubated
rinsed by distilled water to remove any adsorbed contaminant from at room temperature for 20 min. The absorbance was measured
sample surface. The cleaned sample was chopped and dried using at 765 nm using a spectrophotometer (Jasco, UV-550, Japan). Total
freeze dryer then placed in an oven at 40 ◦ C for 12 h to remove any phenolics content was expressed as ␮g of gallic acid equivalent/g
remaining moisture. The dried material was ground by a blender of dry extract (␮g GAE/g).
into powder and passed through a sieve (120 meshes) was collected
for extraction. 2.6. Determination of total flavonoid content

2.3. Extraction Total flavonoid content of the plant extract was determined
using aluminum chloride colorimetric method and using stan-
Heat reflux is the most common method for the extraction of dard solutions (12.5, 25, 50, 80 and 100 ␮g/ml of quercetin in 80%
bioactive components from natural products (Xiao et al., 2008). methanol). For the analysis, 1 ml extract solution in 80% methanol
This extraction method was chosen for the first preliminary study (1 mg/ml) was mixed with 0.5 ml 95% ethanol (v/v), 0.1 ml alu-
because of its simplicity and manageability. The dried and pow- minum chloride solution (10% AlCl3 ), 0.1 ml 1 M potassium acetate
dered plant material (1 g per batch) was extracted using water bath and 0.8 ml distilled water to a total volume of 2.5 ml. The mixture
at 55 ◦ C. Three independent variables and three levels; solvent com- was well mixed and incubated at room temperature for 30 min.
position (40%, 60%, 80% of ethanol), extraction time (2, 3, 4 h), and Absorbance was measured at 520 nm vs. reagent blank containing
solvent to sample ratio (30, 40, 50 ml/g) with coded values as min- water instead of sample. Quercetin was used as the standard for
imum (−1), center (0) and maximum (1) were evaluated. All these the quantification of total flavonoid. Results were expressed as mil-
factors might affect the diffusion of analytes from sample matrix to ligrams of quercetin equivalent per gram of dry weight extract (mg
solvent. Experiments were conducted with full factorial design (33 ) QE/g). Total content of flavonoid was calculated as follows: Total
which refers to three independent variables studied. Three levels flavonoid content = QE × V/m. Where QE is the quercetin equiva-
were conducted for each independent variable. Altogether, 27 runs lence (mg/ml) or concentration of quercetin solution established
were performed under randomized order and the experiments on from the calibration curve; V is the volume of extract (ml) and m
each sample were carried out in triplicate. The mixture was filtered is the weight (g) of the dry extract (Basma et al., 2011). Data was
with a Whatman No. 2 filter paper; ethanol was removed using a reported as arithmetic mean ± SD for three replications.
rotary evaporator at 68 ◦ C and water was removed by freeze drying.
The percentage of crude dry extract was determined as follows: 2.7. Analysis of flavonoids by HPLC
M 
extract
Yextract (%) = × 100 HPLC is one of the most powerful tools in analytical chem-
mfeed
istry, with the ability to separate, identify and quantify the target
where Yextract is the extraction yield, Mextract is the crude extract compounds present in any sample that can be dissolved in HPLC
mass (g) and mfeed is the feed mass (g) compatible liquid (Chiu et al., 2002; Marston, 2007). Sarang semut
plant sample was extracted at optimum condition for HPLC analysis
2.4. DPPH radical scavenging activity assay using the method of Weisz et al. (2009). A sample (3 g) was heated
for 4 h in 150 ml solvent at 55 ◦ C. The mixture was filtered with
Free radical scavenging activity of the plant extract was deter- a Whatman No. 2 filter paper, then ethanol was removed using a
mined by using DPPH assay according to the procedure described rotary evaporator at 60 ◦ C and water was removed by freeze drying.
by Basma et al. (2011), with some modifications. 2,2-Diphenyl-1- The dried extract was reconstituted and heated at 80 ◦ C for 1 h (to
picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) 0.002% methanolic solution was prepared hydrolyze glycosides to aglycons) in a solution of 40 ml 65% aque-
in a volumetric flask covered with aluminum foil. One milliliter ous methanol in which 0.5 g/l tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) was
of the plant extract in methanol (10–150 ␮g/ml) was mixed with dissolved, and 10 ml 6 N HCl was added. TBHQ was incorporated as
1 ml solution of DPPH (0.002%). For blank solution, the extract antioxidant to avoid flavonoid degradation. After cooling, the solu-
was substituted by methanol. Reduction of DPPH by antioxi- tion was sonicated for 5 min and made to a final volume of 100 ml
dants was monitored at 520 nm using a spectrophotometer (Jasco, by adding de-ionized water, then filtered through a 0.2 ␮m Anotop
394 A.M. Engida et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 41 (2013) 392–396

Table 1
Extraction yield obtained under the experimental condition using complete randomized design (CRD) full factorial.

Independent variables Average % yield at each level Range

Level 1a Level 2a Level 3a Rb

Solvent composition (%) 10.08 ± 2.84 10.67 ± 1.41 11.56 ± 1.89 1.48 ± 3.41
Extraction time (h) 9.76 ± 1.28 11.19 ± 1.42 11.36 ± 1.21 1.60 ± 1.76
Solvent amount (ml/g) 8.66 ± 1.61 11.54 ± 1.31 12.82 ± 0.34 3.16 ± 1.65
a
Average response for each level on extraction yield (n = 3).
b
Range (R) value means range between average yields for each level of extraction yield.

syringe filter for HPLC analysis. The HPLC analyses were performed the most important determinant of yield with range 3.16 ± 1.65 as
with: Luna 5U-C18 (2) 100A column (250 mm × 4.5 mm, 5 ␮m) plus shown in Fig. 1. Mean values at the three levels for each param-
Jasco, quaternary gradient pump (pu-2089) plus Jasco, UV-2077 eter show how extraction yield changes with level of parameter.
4␭ intelligent UV/vis detector. The compounds were eluted with Based on the obtained mean value of main effects of the three most
a gradient elution of mobile phases A and B. Solvent A consisted important factors, the highest extraction yield was obtained at 80%
of deionized water and 1% acetic acid and solvent B consisted of ethanol, 4 h and a solvent to sample ratio of 50 ml/g. The maximum
methanol (HPLC grade) and 1% acetic acid. Acetic acid (1%) was yield was obtained at highest levels of all factors. This illustrates the
added to reduce peak tailing. Gradient elution program was set as possibility of extracting more antioxidants from the plant on other
follows: 10% B–17.2% B (18 min), 17.2% B–23% B (12 min), 23% B iso- higher combination of these factors and its potential as antioxidant
cratic (10 min), 23%–31.3% B (13 min), 31.3% B–46% B (12 min), 46% compound source. But for this preliminary experiment the yield
B–55% B (5 min), 55% B–100% B (5 min), 100% B isocratic (8 min), obtained was considered for further analysis.
10% B (2 min) and 10% B isocratic (5 min). The injection volume Dry extract obtained under optimum condition was used for the
for all samples was 20 ␮l. Flavonoids were monitored at 280 nm analysis. Data were subjected to analyses of variance (ANOVA) and
and 285 nm at a flow rate of 1 ml/min. All determinations were multiple comparison tests were performed using a least significant
performed in triplicate. difference (LSD), suitable for factorial design, at 95% of confidence
The flavonoids standard stock solutions were initially prepared. level. Statistical calculation and analysis were performed using
Dilutions and injections of these standards were then made until Microsoft excel version 7.0. The yield of crude extract obtained
a HPLC chromatogram showed that the flavonoids peak height under optimum condition was found to be 13.82%.
reached at S/N of approximately 10:1 and 3:1 for LOQ and LOD
solutions, respectively.
Flavonoids were identified by matching the retention time and 3.2. DPPH radical scavenging activity
their spectral characteristics against those of standards and the
contents of flavonoids were determined using calibration curves. The relatively stable DPPH radical has been widely used to
Each standard solution (0.1–2.0 ␮g/ml quercetin, 0.1–0.5 mg/ml test the ability of a compound to act as free radical scavenger or
apigenin and rutine, 0.05–0.5 ␮g/ml luteoline and 0.01–0.1 mg/ml hydrogen donor and thus to evaluate its antioxidant activity (Li
kaepferol) was dissolved in methanol and subjected to HPLC analy- et al., 2008). Phenolic compounds in plants are viewed as powerful
sis. The calibration curves were constructed by plotting the average in vitro antioxidants due to their ability to donate hydrogen or elec-
peak areas vs. the concentration of each analyte. The chromatogram trons and to form stable radical intermediates (Wang et al., 2007).
for the blank solvent was subtracted from sample chromatogram to Plant extract quenched DPPH free radical in a dose-dependent man-
correct the background error. Finally the quantity of each detected ner. As concentration of the extract increased, its DPPH quenching
flavonoid was determined using regression equation (Y = ax ± b), activity also increased as shown in Fig. 2. The observed antioxi-
where x is concentration and y is the peak area of each flavonoid dant activity of the extract may be due to the neutralization of free
derived from calibration curve of each respective standard. The radical character of DPPH; either by transfer of an electron or hydro-
linearity was established by the coefficient of determination (R2 ). gen atom. The plant extract showed antioxidant activity in the
Slope, intercept, R2 and the other statistical calibration lines were DPPH assay with great antioxidant capacity and the IC50 occurred at
calculated using Microsoft excel version 7.0. 96.21 ± 9.03 ␮g/ml of extract. The inhibitory potential of the plant
extract was compared with known antioxidant (ascorbic acid) and
3. Results and discussion the result was comparable as shown in Fig. 2.

3.1. Optimization of extraction condition

To obtain an efficient extraction of target compounds, optimiza-

tion of experimental conditions is a critical step in developing
an extraction method. The extraction efficiency of water bath
extraction was examined at different sets of solvent composition,
extraction time and solvent to sample ratio under (33 ) test design.
The results shown in Table 1 indicate that there are differences in
yield among each set of extraction condition. As can be seen from
Table 1, with increasing ethanol composition, extraction time and
solvent to sample ratio from 40% to 60%, 2–4 h and 30–50 ml/g,
respectively; the yield (%) varies from 10.08 ± 2.84 to 11.556 ± 1.89,
9.76 ± 1.28 to 11.36 ± 1.21 and 8.66 ± 1.61 to 12.82 ± 0.34 corre-
spondingly. Statistically the variation was significant with 95%
Fig. 1. Variation of extraction yields under complete randomized design (CRD) full
confidence level (p = 0.047). Extraction yield increases with increas- factorial in different levels of factors: (a) solvent composition (%), (b) extraction time
ing level of factors but solvent to sample ratio was found to be (h) and (c) solvent to sample ratio (ml/g) at 55 ◦ C.
 A.M. Engida et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 41 (2013) 392–396 395

Table 2
Calibration curves, correlation coefficients (r2 ), detection limits and quantification limits for HPLC analysis for compounds extracted, identified and quantified from Myrmecodia
pendan.

Peak no. Compounds Linear equations Squ. LODa (␮g/ml) LOQb (␮g/ml)
correlation
coefficients (r2 )

8 Kaepferol y = 1.52x − 1.22 0.977 0.460 ± 0.033 1.533 ± 0.110

7 Luteoline y = 0.39x + 0.04 0.978 1.750 ± 0.096 5.833 ± 0.320
5 Rutine y = 85.5x − 0.03 1 0.720 ± 0.066 2.400 ± 0.220
10 Quercetin y = 0.3x 1 1.960 ± 0.159 6.532 ± 0.530
12 Apigenin y = 18.8x + 0.14 0.995 0.670 ± 0.075 2.233 ± 0.250
a
LOD (␮g/ml) = 3S, where S is the standard deviation of the blank determination (n = 3).
b
LOQ (␮g/ml) = 10 × S.

3.3. Total phenolics and flavonoids contents 10 and 12 were identified as rutine, luteoline, kaepferol, quercetin
and apigenin, respectively with good resolution.
Total phenol content was reported as gallic acid equiva- All identified flavonoids were calibrated at 280 nm. Five
lents (GAE) by reference to standard curve (Y = 0.004x + 0.521 and flavonoids including kaempferol, luteoline, rutine, quercetin
R2 = 0.997). The dry plant extract has a total phenol content of and apigenin were quantified. Kaempferol was found to have
330.61 ± 2.13 mg GAE/g. These observations suggest that sarang the highest concentration (13.767 mg/g), followed by apigenin
semut plant is rich in phenolics that have potential as value (4.700 mg/g). The other three all existed in relatively smaller con-
added products. Total flavonoid content was expressed as quercetin centrations; quercetin (0.030 mg/g), luteoline (0.005 mg/g), rutine
equivalents (QE) by reference to standard curve (Y = 0.05x − 0.375 (0.003 mg/g). All results (total phenolic content, total flavonoid,
and R2 = 0.991). It was found that the extract has a total flavonoid individual flavonoids as well as the radical inhibitory effect) shown
content of 63.28 ± 1.75 mg QE/g of dry extract. Like any plant prod- in this study may vary depending on the source of sarang semut as
ucts, the total phenolic and flavonoids contents and the radical well as the environment where it is cultivated.
inhibitory effect can be influenced by the plant source and envi- The summary of linear equations, squared correlation coeffi-
ronment where the plant is collected and cultivated. cients, limit of determination (LOD) and limit of quantification
(LOQ) of the five quantified flavonoids are presented in Table 2.
3.4. Analysis of flavonoids by HPLC

The extract from sarang semut obtained under optimum con-

ditions (80% ethanol as solvent, 50 ml solvent per gram sample,
extraction time 4 h) was analyzed using HPLC at 280 and 285 nm.
Five flavonoid compounds (kaempferol, luteoline, rutine,
quercetine and apigenin) were identified from the extract by
matching their retention times against those of the standards. Peak
assignment was confirmed by injection of standards.
However, the results obtained in this work cannot be compared
with those reported in literatures. Because firstly this study is the
first work on the preliminary identification and quantification of
this plant, and secondly the retention times depend on factors such
as solvent composition, extract matrix and the gradient elution pro-
gram. Fig. 3 shows the HPLC chromatogram of a mixture of eight
flavonoid standards for peak comparison with the chromatogram
of the crude plant extract (Fig. 4). As shown in Fig. 4, the HPLC Fig. 3. Chromatogram of eight available flavonoid standards monitored at 280 nm
and identified with retention time (min) catechin (17.593), (+)-epicatechin (43.110),
chromatogram of the extract obtained under optimum conditions
rutine (62.433), luteoline (73.178), myrcetin (74.777), kaepferol (76.197), quercetin
displays twelve peaks which were detected at 280 nm. Peaks 4, 7, 9, (78.147) and apigenin (87.160).

Fig. 4. HPLC chromatogram of the crude extract obtained under optimum condi-
Fig. 2. DPPH radical scavenging capacity of plant extract and ascorbic acid. Data tions: 80% ethanol, 4 h and 50 ml per gram sample. Peak no. 4 (rutine), 7 (luteolin),
represent means ± SD (n = 3). 9 (kaepferol), 10 (quercetin) and 12 (apigenin) were identified peaks.
396 A.M. Engida et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 41 (2013) 392–396

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ence and Technology through a grant (100H451403). induced cytotoxicity on human leukemia cells. Archives of Biochemistry and
Biophysics 460, 1–9.
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