Antioxidant Activities and Quality Test of Instant Faloak (Sterculia quadrifida R.Br.) From East Nusa Tenggara With Added Ginger (Zingibera officinale Roch)

Abstract

Introduction: Faloak is one of the medicinal plants which grows wildly in Kupang-East Nusa Tenggara. People use faloak bark to treat several diseases. The faloak bark is usually processed by boiling and, the cooking water is drunk. Scientifically, faloak bark contains flavonoids which are known to have antioxidant properties. Preparation of faloak in other dosage forms is made so that people have other choices in using faloak. Faloak in the form of instant dosage has been made and has been measured for its antioxidant activity but has very weak antioxidant activity with an IC50 value of 2,307.77 ppm ± 58.20 ppm or 2,249.57 ppm to 2,365.97 ppm (Soeharto & Tenda, 2018). Ginger is a plant that is known to have antioxidant activity. Objective: This study aimed to determine the antioxidant strength of instant faloak by adding ginger based on IC50 value and the quality of the preparation. The sample is taken by taking the faloak bark that is not too old. The bark that has been extracted from the juice is then added with sugar and ginger juice and then recrystallized to get instant faloak with a ginger flavor. The instant faloak was identified qualitatively and measured its antioxidant activity against DPPH as a free radical at a wavelength of 517.4 nm using a UV-vis spectrophotometer. The quality of instant faloak preparations is measured including: water content and ash content. Results: The results showed that instant faloak wich added ginger had very weak antioxidant activity with values of IC50 2,044.2 ppm ± 32.84 or 2,011.42 ppm to 2,077.1 ppm, water content of 2.40% and ash content of 1.46%.