Chemical Component of Kencur (Kaemferia galanga L.) Ethanolic Extract Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Kaemferia galanga L. or kencur is a traditional plant that known has potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities because of its chemical compound such as ethyl p-methoxycinnamate. This study aimed to analyze the chemical compound of ethanolic extract of kencur using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Kencur was extracted by cold maceration using ethanol-water (70:30) at room temperature. From this procedure, the filtrate (extract of kencur) and crystal are produced. The crystal then was crystallization using ethanol. The ethanolic extract and crystal were analyzed qualitatively using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results show that in the ethanol extract identified there were 5 compounds, namely ethyl-trans-p-methoxycinnamate (84.55%); ethyl cinnamate trans (5.05%), methyl 4-methoxycinnamate (4.02%), ethyl-cis-p-methoxycinnamate (2.85%) and benz[A]azulene-1,4-dione, 2,3- dimethyl- (1.49%). Whereas the crystals are ethyl-trans-p-methoxycinnamate (96.20%) and methyl 4-methoxycinnamate (1.62%). It was concluded that ethyl�trans-p-methoxycinnamate was the main compound of kencur which was easily obtained by cold extraction