Phytochemical and Antioxidant Activity of the Ethanol Extracts of Songgolangit Plant (<i>Tridax procumbens</i> L.)

Abstract

The songgolangit plant is used by some Indonesians as a traditional wound medicine. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the content of phytochemical compounds and antioxidant activity in ethanol extracts of songgolangit plants (Tridax procumbens L.) so that the use of this plant is more widespread and scientifically proven to contain compounds that can function as drugs. This research uses the GC-MS (Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry) method because this method can separate compounds that are mixed together and can identify various compounds even in low concentrations. Antioxidant activity testing uses the DPPH (1,1-Diphenyl-2-Picrylhydrazyl) method, this method is often used because it is fast, simple, and does not require high costs for screening free radical capture activity. Extract testing via GC-MS showed that the leaf sample of the songgolangit plant had 15 compounds, the stem sample had 11 compounds, and the flower sample had 11 compounds. Only three compounds were found equally in both leaf, stem, and flower. These compounds were 1,2,5-oxadiazol-3-carboxamide, 4,4'-azobis-, 2,2'-dioxide with a function as an antifungal activity. The 4,6-dichloro-5,7-dinitro-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole compound has been no specific research on this compound. Meanwhile 5,8-epoxy-15-nor-labdane was a compound that had antidiabetic function. Songgolangit plants contain alkaloids, tannins, terpenoids, flavonoids, steroids, organic compounds, fatty acids, amines, naphthalene acids and catecholamines. Antioxidant activity analysis showed that songgolangit plants had an IC50 value of 81 µg/mL in leaf, 80 µg/mL in stem, and 81µg/mL in flower, and all had strong antioxidant activity category.