Flavonoids from Malaysian : A Preliminary Study

Abstract

Uncaria gambir of the family Rubiaceae is a well-known plant in Southeast Asia and can be commonly found in Malaysia and Indonesia. It has been traditionally used for skin tanning, colouring in textile and as an alternative medicine for treatment of diarrheae, sore throat and spongy gums. Recent studies have reported flavonoids (mostly catechin) to be most abundant constituents of U.gambir (collected from Indonesia). Similarly, the compound has been reported to be present in the local species via thin layer chromatography (TLC) analysis. With the aim of investigating the flavonoid contents of local U.gambir, the methanol extract of the leaves were redissolved in diethyl ether to remove unwanted tannins. The tannin-free extract was subjected to HPLC profiling on Agilent 1200 system (DAD) using an RP-C18 column (250 × 4.6 mm i.d. × 5 µm) with gradient elution. The flavonoid constituents were identified by matching their retention time against the standards, catechin and epicatechin. The LC profiles obtained indicate the presence of the two flavonoids and provide information on the distribution of other constituents in the leaves of the plant.