Dragon’s blood extracted from used rattan fruit (Daemonorops draco): Resin yield and its physical properties

Abstract

Rattan fruit (jernang) is a non-timber forest product with high economic value.Dracohodin is the major natural compound in dragon's blood resin, which possesses pharmaceutical benefit.Moreover, resins are traditionally obtained by breaking off the layers encasing the rattan fruit (Daemonorps draco), consequently generating large quantities of waste in the form of used rattan fruit (URF). These residue are usually discharged into the environment with no further utility. The objective of this study, therefore, was to extract the resin from URF and test the physical properties, based on SNI Revision 1671-2010. The result showed higher resin yield (4.1%) under the following condition: solvent to solid ratio of 5:1, maceration time of 24 hours, and resin separation with a rotary evaporator at 70 °C for three hours. Besides, the physicochemical evaluation of all parameters, including resin content, water content, ash content and colour were following super quality of SNI Revision, 1671-2010. Also, a comparative test for URF v.s FRF showed a relatively higher yield in FRF, with a difference of only 0.34%,