The Effects of varying solvent polarity on extraction yield of Orthosiphon stamineus leaves

Abstract

Orthosiphon stamineus, also known as Misai Kucing, is one of the invaluable medicinal plants originated from Southeast Asia. O. stamineus leaves were used in plenty of applications related to the medicinal purposes and are believed to cure certain disease such as hypertension, gout and fever. However, very little research done with regards to ascertain the extraction yield based on solvent polarity. Thus, the influence of solvents with different polarities on extraction yield was investigated. Water (H 2O), ethyl acetate (EA), Hexane (Hex) and ethanol (EtOH) were selected as the extraction solvents with 40°C temperature and four hours extraction time using Solid Liquid Extraction (SLE). The highest extraction yield was obtained from H2O, gave 33.69 wt.% of extraction yield compared to EA (6.05 wt.%), EtOH (4.42 wt.%). and Hex (3.08 wt.%). Currently, the information on the extraction of O. stamineus based on solvent polarities was rather scarce. Thus, this study will provide a good source of information for particular extraction processes in different polarities of solvent. © 2012 Asian Network for Scientific Information.