Students of IPB Utilized the Pandan Wangi Leaves as the Natural Medicine for Anti-cholesterol
Pandan wangi leaves were one of the plants that could easily be found in the yard of the house in Indonesia. The benefits of the pandan wangi leaves were numerous. In addition to providing a natural green color for food, the pandan wangi leaves which had a distinctive fragrance were often used as the herbs and the spices, the fragrant ingredients, and the medicinal plants. However, behind it all who knew the other benefits of these leaves that had a dark green color?
The pandan wangi was the tropical plant that could grow in the damp places. The pandan wangi leaves contained the compounds such as the tannins, the alkaloids, the flavonoids, and the polyphenols which had the bioactivities as the antioxidants. So that to reduce the risk of the premature aging and the complication of various diseases.
A group of students consisting of Diki Yulianzah, Karisma Mardatillah, Dwitya Citra Esti, Defly Nadila Putri, and Nurdiana Saraswati were a group of students of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB). Through the Student Creativity Program for Research (PKM-E) 2017, a group of students were making the initiative to utilize the efficacy of the pandan wangi leaves optimally by making a research of the anti-cholesterol formulation coming from the pandan wangi.
The research conducted in the Unit of the Laboratory Animal Management (UPHL), the Pharmaceutical Laboratory, and the Laboratoy of FIFARM of FKH of IPB made the infuse with the aquades based on the pandan wangi fragrance. Then, the testing of the anti-cholesterol infuse was conducted toward the wistar male rat with a certain concentration.
“There are several reasons chosen the pandan wangi leaves as one of the cholesterol antidote. The content contained in the pandan leaves does not cause the increased of the bad cholesterol, even it is lowering it. The content of tannin can bind the bile acids in the intestines, and finally it is thrown through the feces, then the phenol content contained in the pandan wangi can inhibit the oxidation of Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL), which can eventually decrease the tendency to have the excess of the cholesterol,” said Diki Yulianzah who was the Leader of the Group of PKM.
The cholesterol itself was the metabolite that contained sterol fats, having a waxy shape, and it was present in the human and animal cells. The cholesterol in the blood could increase, when there was the saturated fat that entered the body, which was generally obtained from foods derived from animals. However, the fats contained in plants generally were the unsaturated fats which were able to lower the blood cholesterol levels.
The supply of the pandan leaves coming from the market in Bogor used the pandan leaves as a source of anti-cholesterol infuse based on the abundant benefits on the pandan leaves. This group hoped that the result of the anti-cholesterol infuse could be a source of information about alternative cholesterol-lowering drugs which could be obtained easily and had a natural content, so that it had no side effects when compared with the chemical drugs. (GG/Zul)
