Abstract

The three main objectives of this study were to evaluate the extracted essential oil in terms of total phenolic and flavonoids contents, radical scavenging activity and sun protection factor. The antioxidant activity of the essential oil was determined by using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity while the content of total phenol was determined by using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. Aluminium chloride colorimetric method was used for flavonoid content determination while photo-protective potential was determined by using Mansur’s sun protection factor (SPF) value. The extracted essential oil was found to contain low levels of total phenolic contents (2.30±0.003 µg/g as garlic acid equivalent) and total flavonoid contents (254.99±0.64 µg/g as quercetin equivalent) respectively. DPPH free radical scavenging activity of the essential oil was 40.73%±1.32 at 200µg/ml. The Mansur’s equation of sun protective factor showed that the essential oil possesses some sun protective potentials. This study suggests that the essential oil from Etlingera elatior could be potentially used as a new source of natural antioxidant and ingredient that can be incorporated into the sunscreen cosmetic products.

Key words: Essential Oil, Bunga Kantan, Etlingera elatior, Antioxidant, Photo-Protective Activity, Phytochemical