IDENTIFICATION OF FLAVONOIDS IN CABOMBA FURCATA FROM TASIK CHINI, PAHANG MALAYSIA

Early studies of Cabomba furcata from Chini Lake, Pahang, Malaysia has shown the presence of bioactive phytochemicals such as flavonoids which have not been identified yet. Flavonoids are believed to have good contributions to the humankind and they have the potential to be commercialized in pharmaceutical field. This study was done to identify the flavonoid components that are present in C. furcata and then to quantify the flavonoids. The analysis and identification of flavonoids were carried out using 3 methods, spectrophotometry uv-visible (uvvis), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Extraction was performed by using five (5) different solvents namely water, methanol, chloroform, methanol-water (1:1) and methanol-chloroform (2:1) and it was found that methanol-water gives the highest extraction yield (8.7%). Preliminary test with spectrophotometry uv-vis had shown the presence of gallic acid, catechin, syringic acid and ellagic acid. Chemical analysis performed with HPLC and LC-MS had confirmed the presence of catechin, gallic acid, syringic acid and ellagic acid in the aquatic plant. Quantity of catechin in the mixture of methanol-water extract is the highest, that is 596.5 mg, followed by methanol extract (445.3 mg), water extract (360 mg), mixture of methanol-chloroform (297.8 mg) and the lowest is from chloroform extract (133.6 mg)