Judul: Potensi Ekstrak Umbi dan Daun Ubi Jalar Ungu sebagai Inhibitor α-Glukosidase
Abstrak: Purple sweet potato has been reported as a component of daily diet for type 2 diabetes mellitus patient because of its low glycemic index. A mechanism for decreasing blood’s sugar content in diabetic patients is by inhibiting α- glucosidase enzyme. In this study, the potencies of alkaloid extract from leaves and anthocyanin extract from tuberous of purple sweet potato were investigated as an inhibitor of α-glucosidase. The sample used was purple sweet potato from Ciampea, Bogor. The 2000 ppm alkaloid extract could inhibit α-glucosidase activity (61.88%), whereas anthocyanin extract was inactive (only inhibited 0.25%). The alkaloid extract was then fractionated by column chromatography with silica gel stationary phase and chloroform as eluent. Fraction containing alkaloid with Dragendorf spraying was F10, which was further separated by preparative thin layers chromatography. F10.15 fraction contained alkaloid and had inhibition activity of 18.07% at 1250 ppm. Fourier transform infrared spectrum of this fraction showed –NH−, –OH, and –CH2– functional groups and was predicted as containing alicyclic polyhydroxy alkaloid with sugar-resembled skeleton.
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Judul: Metabolomic Application in Identification α-Glucosidase Inhibitor from Vegetables and Spices
Abstrak: Diabetes mellitus is a degenerative disease with a high prevalence worldwide. Plant-based foods such as vegetables and spices were often reported to be able to reduce the risk of and even cure diabetes mellitus, especially type 2 (T2DM). Indonesia has many natural resources such as vegetables and spices that can be sources of antidiabetic foods. However, the antidiabetic activity of many vegetables and spices have not been evaluated. Besides, studies to observe the bioactive compounds responsible for the antidiabetic activity of vegetables and spices are still limited. One of the antidiabetic activities commonly studied from plant species is the α-glucosidase inhibition. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the potency of α-glucosidase inhibition of 11 vegetables and 4 spices commonly consumed in Indonesia and to identify their bioactive compound using a metabolomic approach. This study consisted of 3 stages: 1) Screening α-glucosidase inhibition activity of Indonesian vegetables and spices, (2) characterization of antioxidant compound from selected plant (obtained from the first stage) using UHPLC-HRMS and identification of its α-glucosidase inhibitor using NMR- and HPLC combined with UHPLC-HRMS metabolomics, and (3) verification of α-glucosidase inhibition activity of putative compounds (obtained from the second stage) through in silico analysis. The results of the first study showed that the highest antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibition activity was found in leaves extract of Syzygium polyanthum followed by Pluchea indica with the values of the IC50 antioxidant activity being 2.46 and 4.34 μg/ml, respectively. The values of their IC50 of α-glucosidase inhibition were 11.76 and 12.17 μg/ml, respectively. Interestingly, the total phenolic content of these two samples was also higher than others with 25.37 and 37.99 μg GAE/mg extract, respectively. The 1H-NMR fingerprinting analysis showed that each sample had different spectral profile, especially at the aromatic region (chemical shift (δ) > 5.7). Further metabolite profiling on the 1H-NMR of S. polyanthum revealed the presence of gallic acid, syringic acid, and myricetin, whereas 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 4,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid methyl ester, and esculetin were found in the 1H-NMR of P. indica. Previous studies reported that all identified compounds had antidiabetic activity especially through α-glucosidase inhibition. Thus, those compounds might be associated with the α-glucosidase inhibition activity of S. polyanthum and P. Indica, which was investigated further in the next step. Based on the results of the first study, S. polyanthum leaves were chosen for the second stage. Dried leaves of S. polyanthum were fractionated using solvents with different polarity sequentially i.e. hexane, combination of hexane-acetone, acetone, combination of acetone-water and water to obtain 14 fractions. Analysis of antioxidant activity through the ability to reduce radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) indicated that at a tested concentration of 500 μg/ml, Fraction 9/F9 (obtained from acetone:water = 4:1) gave the highest antioxidant activity followed by Fraction 1/F1 (obtained from hexane 100%), Fraction 10/F10 (obtained from acetone:water = 3:2) and Fraction 3 (obtained from hexane:acetone = 4:1) with the values of 95.21, 94.82, 93.37 and 93.19%, respectively. The characterization of the UHPLC-HRMS chromatogram of F9 identified the presence of gallic acid, trans-aconitic acid, and myricetin, while only gallic acid and trans-aconitic acid were identified in
Keyword: α-glucosidase, antioxidant, docking, HPLC-UHPLC-HRMS, metabolomics, NMR, Syzygium polyanthum

Judul: Thermal Characteristics and Dynamics of Tropical Cyclone over Western North Pacific Ocean: A Case Study of Typhoon Songda (Chedeng) 2011
Abstrak: The frequent occasion of Tropical Cyclone (TC) over Western North Pacific (WNP) Ocean lies from 10˚N to 26˚N and 121˚E to 170˚E. Sources of TC development come from warm ocean temperature where latent heat is released during condensation processes and subsequently concentrated in the boundary layer. Relative humidity at 850-700 hPa is responsible to produce the most intense storm. Meanwhile, weak vertical wind shear between 850-200 hPa is one of the dynamical factors that lead to the development of TC. Pressure level of 850-200 hPa is chosen to minimize the thermodynamic effect in the lower troposphere. Typhoon Songda (Chedeng in the Philippines) or TSC lasted from May 18th to 30th, 2011 and strengthened into powerful Super Typhoon stage between May 24th and 27th. Long curving track and the exhibition of all sequences of TC life cycle, TSC is then considered as an ideal case of TC. The objective of the study with case of TSC is to investigate the role of thermal characteristics and dynamics on TC intensity. The research is carried out by using Advanced Research of Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF ARW model) version 3.3. Two domains are employed in the model. The first domain situate from 02˚N to 40˚N and 118˚E to 149˚E and cover spatial resolution () of 33.1 km. The second domain situate from 09˚N to 27˚N and 119˚E to 132˚E with of 11 km. Timestep of the model () is 120 seconds. The model is supported by the following physical parameterization, i.e., Yonsei University Scheme (YSU) in the boundary layer, Kain-Fritsch scheme (KF) in the cumulus, and WRF Single-Moment 3-class scheme in the microphysics. Initial meteorological condition prior to the formation of the cyclone is generated using WRF ARW standard-release model. Sensitivity of the model output is obtained from a selected single-parameter change scenarios, namely, 10 % to 20 % decrease and increase of wind shear initial data at 850-200 hPa, and by 10 % to 20 % decrease of relative humidity initial data at 850-700 hPa. The result showed that the negative correlations between wind shear and intensity are found in wind shear scenarios. Wind shears of 10 ms-1 which lead to strengthening of the wind intensity in the early period of Typhoon development are found in wind shear scenarios. The effect of wind shear changes on wind intensity is statistically significant in the 20 % wind shear scenarios. During mature stage, weak wind intensity occurred when wind shear increase as given in the WRF standard-release and the 20 % decreasing scenario. Different situation is found in the 20 % increasing scenario where wind shear tend to weak and lead to strong wind intensity at this stage. Meanwhile, the reduction of moisture supply at 850-700 hPa resulting from 20 % decreasing relative humidity play a major role in the weakening of wind intensity and reduces mechanical energy of the cycle process as much as 300 J kg-1.
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