Maclin Dayod and Margaret Abat
Agriculture Research Centre Semongok, Malaysia
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Plant Pathol Microbiol
Bungkang (Syzygium polyanthum) is a medium to tall plant which produces edible and aromatic leaves. The leaves, though commonly used by some communities in various countries to flavour many local dishes, have various medicinal properties. Nonetheless, the nutritional and antioxidant properties of the leaves are influenced by various local biophysical conditions. Hence, this study was conducted to verify those properties in locally grown S. polyanthum in Sarawak, Malaysia. We found that S. polyanthum leaves contain about 68.0% carbohydrates, 67.0% moisture, 17.0% crude fibre, 10.0% crude protein 4.0% ash and 1.0% fat. A 100- gram leaf powder may also provide about 196% iron, 89% copper, 63% magnesium, 48% calcium, 48% manganese, 25% potassium, 21% zinc and 20% phosphorus of the recommended daily allowances. The leaves also contain about 1.9 mg/mL of vitamin C, 3.2 mg GAE/g of total phenolic, 1.6 mg GAE/g of total flavonoid and 0.1 mg/g of total anthocyanin. The scavenging activities of 20 mg/mL leaf extract were about 79% using 2,2 â??diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 75% using 2,2-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6- sulphonic acid). We also observed about 10% increase in vitamin C content between 0800 and 1400 h with increasing temperature and decreasing humidity, suggesting its protective function to free radicals in the leaves. Our results indicate that the locally grown S. polyanthum leaves are nutritious and have high antioxidant properties.
Email: maclind@sarawak.gov.my