Acanthaceae merupakan famili tumbuhan berbunga di bawah order Lamiales dan terdiri daripada sekurang-kurangnya 4,000 spesies di kawasan tropika dan juga kawasan subtropika dengan genus Justicia merupakan genus terbesar. Kajian mikromorfologi petal dan sepal telah dijalankan ke atas ke atas enam spesies iaitu Justicia betonica L., J. carnea Lindl., J. comata (L.) Lam., J. gendarussa Burm.f., J. procumbens L. dan J. ptychostoma Nees. Kaedah kajian termasuklah penetapan bunga di dalam larutan penetap, siri dehidrasi, titik pengeringan genting dan cerapan di bawah mikroskop imbasan elektron. Hasil kajian menunjukkan kesemua enam spesies mempunyai variasi dan perbezaan mikromorfologi pada permukaan epidermis petal dan sepal. Kutikel lilin boleh ditemui pada kedua-dua permukaan epidermis petal dan sepal kesemua spesies yang dikaji. Kutikel lilin butir merupakan satu-satunya jenis kutikel lilin yang ditemui pada kesemua permukaan petal dan sepal spesies kajian. Terdapat lapan jenis trikom ditemui pada permukaan epidermis sepal dan juga lapan jenis trikom pada permukaan epidermis petal. Justicia betonica boleh dibezakan secara langsung dengan kehadiran stomata amfidiasitik pada permukaan epidermis petal dan stomata tidak hadir pada permukaan petal spesies yang lain. Kesimpulannya, hasil kajian ini membuktikan ciri mikromorfologi petal dan sepal mempunyai kesignifikan sistematik dan boleh digunakan sebagai data sokongan bagi pembezaan dan pengenalpastian spesies dalam genus Justicia.
Justicia gendarussa methanolic leaves extract from four different locations in Southern region of Malaysia and distribution
of two flavonoids, naringenin and kaempferol in plant organs (young and mature leaves) were determined using gas
chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) analysis. Naringenin and kaempferol contents were detected
and quantified in leaves extract. The results indicated that mature leaves contained more naringenin and kaempferol
compared to young leaves. The highest concentration of naringenin and kaempferol were recorded in mature leaves from
Skudai and Muar regions which were 507.692 and 1226.964 mgkg-1, respectively. Data analysis showed that naringenin
content was directly proportional to the amount of kaempferol in the leaf extracts. In conclusion, this study suggested
geographical variation among plant samples and physiological stage of organ parts could contribute to variation in
flavonoids concentration in a plant species.
This paper discussed on the effectiveness of BAP and NAA growth hormones on establishment of plant regeneration for selected ornamentals; Agapanthus praecox, Justicia betonica and Celosia cristata. Various explants (leaf, stem, shoot tip and bulb) derived from one-month-old aseptic seedlings of A. praecox and C. cristata, as well as explants from intact plants of J. betonica were utilized to achieve complete plant regeneration of these species. MS medium supplemented with various hormones, with an emphasis on BAP and NAA was tested to obtain direct and indirect regeneration. Both A. praecox (bulbs) and C. cristata (shoots) formed complete plantlets on MS added with 0.5-2.0 mg/L BAP and NAA, while direct regeneration was achieved for J. betonica on MS media containing BAP. Several methods were attempted to acclimatize the regenerants, with A. praecox gave the highest percentage of survival rates (96.67%), followed by J. betonica (80.00%) and C. cristata (75.00%).
Justicia gendarussa methanolic leaf extracts from five different locations in the Southern region of Peninsular Malaysia and two flavonoids, kaempferol and naringenin, were tested for cytotoxic activity. Kaempferol and naringenin were two flavonoids detected in leaf extracts using gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID). The results indicated that highest concentrations of kaempferol and naringenin were detected in leaves extracted from Mersing with 1591.80 mg/kg and 444.35 mg/kg, respectively. Positive correlations were observed between kaempferol and naringenin concentrations in all leaf extracts analysed with the Pearson method. The effects of kaempferol and naringenin from leaf extracts were examined on breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468) using MTT assay. Leaf extract from Mersing showed high cytotoxicity against MDA-MB-468 and MDA-MB-231 with IC50 values of 23 μg/mL and 40 μg/mL, respectively, compared to other leaf extracts. Kaempferol possessed high cytotoxicity against MDA-MB-468 and MDA-MB-231 with IC50 values of 23 μg/mL and 34 μg/mL, respectively. These findings suggest that the presence of kaempferol in Mersing leaf extract contributed to high cytotoxicity of both MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cancer cell lines.