Gaharu (agarwood, Aquilaria malaccensis Lamk.) is a valuable tropical rainforest product traded internationally for its distinctive fragrance. It is not only popular as incense and in perfumery, but also favored in traditional medicine due to its sedative, carminative, cardioprotective and analgesic effects. The current study addresses the chemical differences and similarities between gaharu samples of different grades, obtained commercially, using ¹H-NMR-based metabolomics. Two classification models: partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and Random Forests were developed to classify the gaharu samples on the basis of their chemical constituents. The gaharu samples could be reclassified into a 'high grade' group (samples A, B and D), characterized by high contents of kusunol, jinkohol, and 10-epi-γ-eudesmol; an 'intermediate grade' group (samples C, F and G), dominated by fatty acid and vanillic acid; and a 'low grade' group (sample E and H), which had higher contents of aquilarone derivatives and phenylethyl chromones. The results showed that ¹H- NMR-based metabolomics can be a potential method to grade the quality of gaharu samples on the basis of their chemical constituents.
Phaleria macrocarpa (Scheff.) Boerl (Thymelaceae) is commonly known as 'Crown of God', 'Mahkota Dewa', and 'Pau'. It originates from Papua Island, Indonesia and it grows in tropical areas. Empirically, it is potent in treating the hypertensive, diabetic, cancer and diuretic patients. It has a long history of ethnopharmacological usage, and the lack of information about its biological activities led us to investigate the possible biological activities by characterisation of flavonoids and antimicrobial activity of various part of P. macrocarpa against pathogenic bacteria and fungi. The results showed that kaempferol, myricetin, naringin, and rutin were the major flavonoids present in the pericarp while naringin and quercetin were found in the mesocarp and seed. Furthermore, the antibacterial activity of different parts of P. macrocarpa fruit showed a weak ability to moderate antibacterial activity against pathogenic tested bacteria (inhibition range: 0.93-2.17 cm) at concentration of 0.3 mg/disc. The anti fungi activity was only found in seed extract against Aspergillus niger (1.87 cm) at concentration of 0.3 mg/well. From the results obtained, P. macrocarpa fruit could be considered as a natural antimicrobial source due to the presence of flavonoid compounds.
1-(2,6-Dihydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl) ethanone (DMHE) was isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction of Phaleria macrocarpa (Scheff.) Boerl fruits and the structure confirmed by GC-MS (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) and NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) analysis. This compound was tested on the HT-29 human colon adenocarcinoma cell line using MTT (method of transcriptional and translational) cell proliferation assay. The results of MTT assay showed that DMHE exhibited good cytotoxic effect on HT-29 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner but no cytotoxic effect on the MRC-5 cell line after 72 h incubation. Morphological features of apoptotic cells upon treatment by DMHE, e.g., cell shrinkage and membrane blebbing, were examined by an inverted and phase microscope. Other features, such as chromatin condension and nuclear fragmentation were studied using acridine orange and propidium iodide staining under the fluorescence microscope. Future evidence of apoptosis/necrosis was provided by result fromannexin V-FITC/PI (fluorescein-isothiocyanate/propidium iodide) staining revealed the percentage of early apoptotic, late apoptotic, necrotic and live cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner using flow cytometry. Cell cycle analysis showed G0/G1 arrest in a time-dependent manner. A western blot analysis indicated that cell death might be associated with the up-regulation of the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax PUMA. However, the anit-apotptic proteins Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, and Mcl-1 were also found to increase in a time-dependent manner. The expression of the pro-apoptotic protein Bak was not observed.