TOTAL PHENOLIC CONTENTS, ANTIOXIDANT, ANTICANCER AND ANTIDIABETIC PROPERTIES OF Myrmecodia tuberosa (RUBIACEAE)

Abstract

Myrmecodia tuberosa, locally known as “Sarang Semut”, belongs to the Rubiaceae family. The aim of the study is to investigate the total phenolic contents and bioactivity of the crude extract of M. tuberosa. The tuber, bark and leaves of the plant were cut, washed and air-dried. The plant was extracted with ethyl acetate and ethanol to yield EtOAc and EtOH crudes. The crudes were then tested for antioxidant 2,2-diphenyl-1-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)hydrazyl (DPPH) assay, α-glucosidase assay for anti-diabetic activity and [3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium] MTT Assay for cytotoxicity test. The results showed that bark ethanolic extract demonstrated the highest DPPH scavenging of 95.16% while other crudes were ranging from 92.77% to 94.55% scavenging of DPPH compared to ascorbic acid. The tuber ethyl acetate extract demonstrated the highest inhibition of α -glucosidase enzyme with 72.58% while other crudes were ranging from 63.27% to 72.46% inhibition. In addition, the ethanolic tuber extract exhibited the strongest cytotoxicity against Human colorectal Cancer (HT-29) and Cervical Cancer (HeLa) cell lines with the IC50 value of 16 µg/mL and 14 µg/mL respectively. Meanwhile, the ethanolic bark extract exhibited the strongest cytotoxicity against Human Breast Cancer (MCF-7) with IC50 value of 6.0µg/mL. Furthurmore, the tuber extracts contained the highest phenolic content with 1087mg GAE/ g extract compared to the leaves and barks of the plants. The findings suggest that the whole part of M. tuberosa is a potential natural source for anti-oxidative, anti-diabetic and anti-cancer agent.