Extracts of Some Medicinal Plants and Algae From Malaysia
Noorma Wati Haron
Institute of Biological Sciences,Faculty of Science
University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Abstract:
In the tropics about 6000 species of flowering plants have been reported to have medicinal properties of which about 1230 species from 550 genera can be found in Peninsular Malaysia. The importance and uses of algae has also been exploited in industries such as food, medicine and cosmetic. It is the aim of this study to identify the chemical compounds present in the selected species of plants and algae.
Representative species of plants from the family Combretaceae, Melastomataceae, Myrtaceae and algae from the divisions Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta were studied. The composition of flavonoid and pyrimidine derivatives were analysed. Results showed that flavonols, i.e. myricetin, quercetin and kaempferol were present in all plant species but they were not detected in algae species. Study on pyrimidine derivatives showed that almost all plants contained common pyrimidine derivatives, nucleotides and nucleosides but these compounds were found to be rare in algae.
