Analysis of arundina graminifolia in-vitro culture compounds / Aliya Farhah Asri

A. graminifolia belongs to the group of Orchidaceae. It is widely distributed in Asian region, including Malaysia and Indonesia. The orchids are used for many purposes, ranging from ornamental to medicinal purposes. The main components of A. graminifolia are stilbenoids and triterpenes. Thus, there is a need to further determine the bioactive compounds present in A. graminifolia so that it can be used to make a new drug from the plant extract. In this research, tissue culture technique was applied to obtain the plant culture in greater amounts. The phytochemistry of A. graminifolia was analyzed using thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) techniques. The result in TLC showed that there was a presence of terpenes and stilbenoids in the roots of A. graminifolia plant in normal and in-vitro culture, respectively. HPLC result showed that there were more metabolites present in in-vitro culture of A. graminifolia. This might be due to the differences in environmental conditions and the use of the medium in in-vitro culture that might affect the distribution and composition of the compounds in the plant. In overall, the compounds present in all three parts; leaves, stems and roots were different from each other. Since the roots of in-vitro plant contain more variation of metabolites and presence of steroid, further research need to be conducted to study the orchid in terms of its composition and therapeutic effects. Hence, the plant might have the potential to be the candidate for new drug isolated from the orchidaceae species.