Molecular encapsulation of bioactive molecules of Ruku-Ruku leaves (Ocimum tenuiflorum Linnen) as a preliminary stability study

Abstract

Ruku-ruku (RK) leaves in West Sumatra contain various essential oil which is known as secondary metabolites. They could influence the use of these bioactive properties as medicinal compounds. Essential oils have unstable properties to oxidation, evaporation, or chemical reaction. One method for maintaining compound stability is the encapsulation method. This study performs the encapsulation of RK in β-CD. By using the co-precipitation method, this study produces pure crystal with 62,5% of the efficiency of encapsulation. The diffraction pattern of β-CD: RK identified the crystals pattern with a sharp peak of diffraction and most of these peaks showed patterns of diffraction in β-CD. The absorption intensity of the pure CD was only 2.5 but after inserting the RK in its cavity the intensity increased to 2.7. It shows that there is an interaction between the non-covalent part of β-CD and the essential oil molecules. Furthermore, the inclusion complex β-CD: RK is more stable as the increase in the boiling point of the ICs in the range of 282-289°C.