Antiplasmodial and Antioxidant Activity of Garcinia Bancana Extract

Malaria caused by Plasmodium parasites is a significant public health issue, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. There is also resistance to chloroquine-based therapy, which highlights the need for novel therapeutic agents. Therefore, our project in exploring antiplasmodial agents from Garcinia Indonesia continues. This study evaluates the phytochemical content of G. bancana by the total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) and its in vitro antioxidant and antiplasmodial activities. The TPC and TFC values were determined using a UV-VIS spectrophotometer, while the antioxidant activity was determined using the DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays. Antiplasmodial activity against a chloroquine-sensitive strain 3D7 was evaluated using the Giemsa staining method. The highest TPC value of 195.75 ± 1.24 mg GAE/g was obtained from methanolic extract, while a TFC value of 82.79 ± 0.34 mg QE/g extract was found from dichloromethane extract. The methanolic extract exhibited the most potent antioxidant activity in the DPPH and FRAP assays with IC50 values of 6.07 ± 0.06 μg/ml and 74.35 ± 3.77 μM Fe2+/g, respectively. The n-hexane extract was found to be the most potent on ABTS antioxidant and antiplasmodial assays with IC50 values of 1.22 ± 0.02 μg/ml and 0.23 ± 0.01 μg/ml, respectively. Furthermore, the DPPH antioxidant was negatively correlated with antiplasmodial significantly at 0.05. These findings suggest that the n-hexane extract of G. bancana has great potential as a source of antioxidant and antiplasmodial compounds. To the best of our knowledge, this study provides microscopic evidence in addition to the strongest antiplasmodial efficacy of Garcinia extract.