In this study, an efficient micropropagation protocol was developed for A. longiloba and the antioxidant properties of field-grown plant, in vitro-derived greenhouse-grown plant and in vitro-derived callus extracts were compared. The A. longiloba seeds tested using tetrazolium chloride salt exhibited 89% viability. Due to poor germination capacity of A. longiloba seeds, the seeds were treated with gibberellic acid (GA3) or sulfuric acid (H2SO4). The maximum seed germination of 87% was observed at 30% H2SO4 treatment after 19.00 d, whereas GA3 treatment showed maximum germination of 53% after 22 d. In vitro shoot multiplication was carried out using various types of cytokinins alone or in combination with auxin. Among them, 6-benzyl amino purine (BAP) single treatment was found to be the best hormone. The highest shoot-length (7.26 cm) and maximum number of shoots per explant (18) were recorded at 3-mg L−1 BAP. For in vitro rooting, indole-3-acetic acid at 0.5-mg L−1 was found to be the optimum concentration. Callus was induced using various types of auxins alone or in combinations with cytokinins. The highest percentage of callus of 91 and fresh weight of 6 g was obtained with 3-mg L−1 IAA. The plantlets produced in the current study were subjected to acclimatization. The combination of topsoil and peat moss at 1:2 ratio was found to be the best soil media. In this study, in vitro-derived callus extract showed the highest phenolic content (538 mg GAE), followed by extracts of field-grown plant parts, i.e., fruit and petiole (504 and 300 mg GAE) while in vitro plant extract showed the lowest (98 mg GAE). Meanwhile, the highest flavonoids was recorded in petiole extract. Comparative antioxidant activity study shows, in vitro-derived callus exhibited better DPPH-radical-scavenging activity (IC50: 0.113-mg mL−1) whereas the extracts of petiole, fruit and in vitro plant showed 0.126-, 0.137- and 0.173-mg mL−1, respectively. At the same time, the fruit extract showed better (IC50: 0.088-mg mL−1) ABTS radical scavenging activity than all extracts tested. In conclusion, the in vitro-derived callus extract could be favored for high TPC and better DPPH scavenging activity. Hence, the present study was conducted to establish an efficient micropropagation protocol and to compare the antioxidant activity of the field-grown plant, in vitro plant and in vitro derived callus extracts of A. longiloba.

Alocasia longiloba, locally known as ‘Keladi Candik’, has been used traditionally to treat wounds, furuncle and joint inflammations. A. longiloba can be a new source of herbal medicine against hyperuricemia by inhibiting the activity of xanthine oxidase enzyme, the enzyme which is responsible for the development of hyperuricemia in human. Existing xanthine oxidase inhibitors (XOI drugs) show several side effects on gout patients. Therefore, an alternative herbal medicine from plants, with high therapeutic property and free of side effects, are greatly needed. This study was conducted to evaluate XO inhibitory activity, chemical composition, antioxidant activity and GC-MS profile of A. longiloba. Our results showed that ethanolic petiole extract exhibited the highest XO inhibitory activity (70.40 ± 0.05%) with IC50 value of 42.71 μg/mL, followed by ethanolic fruit extracts (61.44 ± 1.24%) with the IC50 value of 51.32 μg/mL. In a parallel study, the phytochemical analysis showed the presence of alkaloid, flavonoid, terpenoids, glycoside and saponin in petiole and fruit extracts, as well as higher total phenolic and flavonoid contents and strong scavenging activity on DPPH and ABTS antioxidant assay. The GC-MS analysis of fruit and petiole extracts revealed the presence of various compounds belonging to different chemical nature, among them are limonen-6-ol, α-DGlucopyranoside, paromomycin, aziridine, phenol, Heptatriacotanol, Phen-1,2,3-dimethyl and Betulin found in ethanolic fruit extract, and Phen-1,4-diol,2,3-dimethyl-, 1-Ethynyl-3,trans(1,1-dimethylethyl), Phenol,2,6-dimethoxy-4-(2-propenyl)- and 7-Methyl-Z-tetradecen-1-olacetate found in ethanolic petiole extract. Some compounds were documented as potent anti-inflammatory and arthritis related diseases by other researchers. In this study, the efficiency of solvents to extract bioactives was found to be ethanol > water, methanol > hexane > chloroform. Together, our results suggest the prospective utilization of fruit and petiole of A. longiloba to inhibit the activity of XO enzyme.

Leukemia is a leukocyte cancer that is characterized by anarchic growth of immature immune cells in the bone marrow, blood and spleen. There are many forms of leukemia, and the best course of therapy and the chance of a patient’s survival depend on the type of leukemic disease. Different forms of drugs have been used to treat leukemia. Due to the adverse effects associated with such therapies and drug resistance, the search for safer and more effective drugs remains one of the most challenging areas of research. Thus, new therapeutic approaches are important to improving outcomes. Almost half of the drugs utilized nowadays in treating cancer are from natural products and their derivatives. Medicinal plants have proven to be an effective natural source of anti-leukemic drugs. The cytotoxicity and the mechanisms underlying the toxicity of these plants to leukemic cells and their isolated compounds were investigated. Effort has been made throughout this comprehensive review to highlight the recent developments and milestones achieved in leukemia therapies using plant-derived compounds and the crude extracts from various medicinal plants. Furthermore, the mechanisms of action of these plants are discussed.

Inducing genetic and morphological variation through conventional method is very difficult. Therefore, mutation induction through in vitro technology brings numerous advantages over the conventional breeding. Thus, the individual shoots (1~2 cm) were irradiated with gamma rays (10~70 Gy). The result revealed that the explants treated with higher doses (40, 50, 60, and 70 Gy) showed deleterious effects of ionizing radiation. The highest survival rate among γ treated explants recorded was 71% in 10 Gy treatments while the lowest survivality was 15% in 70 Gy. Lethal dose 50% (LD 50) dose was found to be 33 Gy. In the in vitro condition, rooting reponse showed that increase in gamma irradiation dose resulted in the inhibition of root growth. Meanwhile, non-treated explants had the best rooting ability with the maximum number of root per explant (20) within a short period of time (6 days), with the highest root length of (15.1 cm). The longer period in rooting (12 days) and lowest number of root per explant (8) with shortest root length (10.1 cm) were recorded at 30 Gy treatment. The highest shoot length (13.6 cm) was observed at control treatment and the shortest shoot length (10.4 cm) was observed at 30 Gy. In the nursery, lowest leaf number (5) was observed at 30 Gy compared with other treatments. The highest chlorophyll content (49.8) was recorded at 10 Gy treated seedling. Irradiated explants with 10 Gy found to be superior over the control treatment and had positive effects in main growth parameters such as chlorophyll content.

Acacia Seyal gum (ASG), also known as gum Arabic, is an antioxidant-rich soluble fiber. ASG has been reported to have many biological activities, including anticancer, antidiabetic, antiulcer, and immunomodulatory activity. Extraction of bioactive compounds from ASG is commonly performed using conventional extraction methods. However, these techniques have certain limitation in terms of extraction time, energy, and solvent requirements. Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) could be used as an alternative technique to extract bioactive compounds in less time, at low temperature, and with less energy and solvent requirements. In this study, the UAE extraction of ASG was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). A face-centered central composite design (FCCCD) was used to monitor the effect of different independent factors of ultrasound operation (sonication time, temperature, and solvent ratio) on ASG extraction yield. In addition, screening and characterization of phytochemicals in 60% ethanol ASG extract was carried out using Raman microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectroscopy (GC-TOFMS) analysis. The results indicated that, under optimal conditions (extraction time 45 min, extraction temperature 40 °C, and solid–liquid ratio of 1:25 g/mL), the yield of ASG was 75.87% ± 0.10. This yield was reasonably close to the predicted yield of 75.39% suggested by the design of experiment. The ANOVA revealed that the model was highly significant due to the low probability value (p < 0.0001). Raman spectrum fingerprint detected polysaccharides, such as galactose and glucose, and protein like lysine and proline, while FTIR spectrum revealed the presence of functional groups peaks value of alkanes, aldehydes, aliphatic amines, and phenol. GC-TOFMS spectroscopic detected the presence of strong d-galactopyranose, carotenoid, and lycopene antioxidant compounds. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the UAE technique is an efficient method to achieve a high yield of ASG extracts. The selected model is adequate to optimize the extraction of several chemical compounds reported in this study.

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Alocasia longiloba Miq belongs to Araceae family, believed to have the medicinal potential. However, the scientific evidences on this plant were limited. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity of the different extracts (methanol, ethyl acetate and hexane) of A. longiloba leaf blades. The TPC was investigated by Folin-Ciocalteu method and antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH scavenging assay. The results showed ethyl acetate extract had the highest content of phenolic with 46.013 mg GAE/g followed by methanol extract (32.936 mg GAE/g) and hexane extract (31.782 mg GAE/g). The hexane extract exhibited the highest DPPH antioxidant acitivity, followed by ethyl acetate and methanol with IC50 values 2.519 µg/mL, 2.758 µg/mL and 9.542 µg/mL respectively. The results indicate A. longiloba has natural sources of antioxidant that can be used for the medicinal purposes.