The present study was conducted to evaluate the antioxidant activity of Vernonia cinerea, Peperomia
pellucida and combination of Vernonia cinerea and Peperomia pellucida. These two herbs are pants that
often grow at random in different environments but are not commercialized due to the fact that no
comprehensive study of the importance of their use. The extract was prepared with methanol respectively.
1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay were used to study their antioxidant activity. The extracts
were compared with commercial antioxidant, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). The highest scavenging
effect from peel extract was presented by Vernonia cinerea with the value of 76.3% scavenging activity
(IC50 = 2.909), followed by the combination of Vernonia cinerea and Peperomia pellucida (71.21%
scavenging activity; IC50 = 5.274) and Peperomia pellucida with value of 68.3% scavenging activity (IC50
= 5.572). BHT showed the lowest IC50 value 1.71 with the scavenging activity 90.0%. Low IC50 value will
indicates the strong ability of the extracts to act as DPPH scavenger.
The present study was conducted to evaluate the antioxidant activity of peel extract from three types of
melon, Cucumis melo var cantalupensis, Cucumis melo var inodorus and Citrullus lanatus in family
Curcurbitaceae. The extract was prepared with methanol respectively. 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl
(DPPH) assay were used to study their antioxidant activity. The extracts were compared with commercial
antioxidant, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). The highest scavenging effect from peel extract was
presented by Cucumis melo var inodorus with the value of 52.7 ± 9.1µg/ml (IC50 = 4.61). BHT showed
the lowest IC50 value 1.71 with the scavenging activity 90.0 ± 1.7µg/ml. Low IC50 value will indicates the
strong ability of the extracts to act as DPPH scavenger.
Endophytic fungi are those living inside the host plant without causing any apparent negative effect on the host plant. Two
isolates endophytic fungi from leaves and two isolates from root at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Reserve Forest,
Negeri Sembilan were successfully isolated and identified by morphology and molecular characteristic. Samples were
surface sterilized and sub-cultured to obtain a pure culture. Characteristics of the isolates such as colony appearance,
mycelial texture, conidia/spores and pigmentation were studied to explore their morphology. Isolates were also subjected to
a PCR-based genotyping test. There were noticeable differences in morphological characteristics among the four isolates.
Microscopic analysis showed four isolates consist of septa and conidia/spores. The pigmentation result showed that
colony in A1leaf samples demonstrated an orange color on potato dextrose agar (PDA) media, colony in A1root demonstrate
a black texture in PDA media while hairy colonies in the others two isolates showed a white color on PDA media. Based on
molecular analyses the fungal genera showed 99-100% similarity with the related fungi recorded in the GenBank. Both
morphology and molecular sequencing of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of endophytic fungi showed that three
isolates (A1root, C2leaf, and C3root) were grouped in Basidiomycota while one isolate (A1leaf) belonged to Ascomycota. The
endophyte funguses were identified as Daldinia sp. (A1leaf), Polyporales sp. (A1root,) Lentinus sp. (C2leaf,) and Rigidoporus
sp. (C3root). Overall, the new discoveries of isolated endophyte fungal have dyeing potential of fungal pigments which
offer a viable alternative to natural vegetable and harmful synthetic dyes.