Effect of using different drying methods on the chemical composition (gallic acid) in the piper betle leaves extract / Baqtrisha Affrina Mohd Daud Khassetia

Piper betle or widely known as Daun Sireh has been widely used traditionally to treat various disease since ancient time. Due to the presence of numerous bioactive compounds in the leaves of the Piper betle, which are utilised in many commercial products in Malaysia, they can serve as a flavouring, folk medicine, aromatherapy, dental, and oral products. The processing parameter in extraction method is crucial to obtain its bioactive compound which contribute to its therapeutic activities. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effect of different drying method on the chemical composition which is the total amount of Gallic acid. The drying methods that were used in this study were sun drying and oven drying at different temperature which are 40°C, 60°C and 80°C. The drying process involves applying heat to the product, which could cause essential bioactive compound in the herbs to degrade and disintegrate. The extraction of dried Piper betle leaves was prepared using Soxhlet apparatus and the solvent used for extraction was aqueous only. The determination and quantification of Gallic acid was implemented by using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The highest percentage extraction yield and also the highest value of Gallic acid was exhibited by oven drying method at temperature 80°C with the value of 10.52% and 48.83%. In conclusion, from the result, the pre-treatment using oven drying (80°C), Soxhlet techniques using aqueous as a solvent was chosen as the best drying method to extract Gallic acid from Piper betle leaves and has a potential to be developed as future herbal-based products.