Comparison of Apigenin, Luteolin, And Eriodictyol Contents of Indonesian and Japanese Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour) Spreng Using HPLC-MWD

Abstract

Plectranthus amboinicus is a plant cultivated for culinary, medicinal, and decorative purposes in parts of Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Apigenin, luteolin, and eriodictyol are three examples of flavonoids identified in the plant that exhibit potential in combatting degenerative diseases, albeit the presence and concentration of said flavonoids could be impacted by cultivation conditions. With that being said, research on said flavonoids have been limited to merely identification without necessarily taking into consideration the impact of cultivation conditions on the plant. Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), this research aims to compare the concentration of apigenin, luteolin, and eriodictyol of the leaves of the plant cultivated from two different areas: Indonesia and Japan. The total flavonoid content of the Japanese leaves was found to be greater than its Indonesian counterpart. Moreover, Japanese samples had a higher luteolin concentration but a lower apigenin concentration when compared to the Indonesian samples. Interestingly, eriodictyol was only present in Indonesian samples. Differences in total flavonoid content and the concentrations of apigenin, luteolin, and eriodictyol could be attributed to the differing climates of Indonesia and Japan, in which the tropical climate of Indonesia leads to greater precipitation and lower solar irradiance. With the exception of recovery, the method employed was found to have met all of the other parameters of validation. This shows the need for further optimization.