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Orthosiphon aristatus (Blume) Miq. of the Lamiaceae family, called as kumis kucing in Indonesia, is a valuable medicinal plant for their pharmacological properties. The present study comprised of fifteen genotypes of O. aristatus was undertaken to evaluate the genotypes based on phytochemical content and pharmacological activities of leaves ethanol extract. Chemometric analysis (correlation and principal component analysis) was also used to investigate the genetic variability based on phytochemical content and pharmacological activities of O. aristatus genotypes. Results of phytochemical characterization showed that total phenolic ranged from 1.48 to 36.08 (maximum in A15) mg GAE/g DW, total flavonoid ranged from 0.10 to 3.07 (maximum in A15) mg QE/g DW, sinensetin ranged from 0.36 to 4.02 (maximum in A11) mg/g DW, and rosmarinic acid ranged 0.06 to 7.25 (maximum in A7) mg/g DW. Antioxidant activity was tested using DPPH and FRAP assay. Antioxidant results showed that DPPH ranged from 1.68 to 15.55 (maximum in A15) μmol TE/g DW and FRAP ranged from 0.07 to 1.60 (maximum in A1 and A7) μmol TE/g DW. The genotype A8 showed the highest cytotoxic activities against HeLa (66.25%) and MCF-7 (61.79%) cell lines. Maximum α-glucosidase inhibitory activity was recorded in genotype A2 with the value of 62.84%. The genotypes A1, A2, A7, A11, and A15 were identified as superior based on their phytochemicals content and pharmacological activities coupled with chemometric analysis. This finding is important for breeding studies and also the pharmaceutical perspective of O. aristatus .

BackgroundThe environmental conditions resulted by the agronomic management practices may govern the secondary metabolite contents of medicinal plants, including Java tea (Orthosiphon aristatus B). Abiotic factors such as temperatures have been known to determine the secondary metabolite contents of Java tea. This study aimed at evaluating the effects of soil temperature resulting from soil mulching and harvest age on total phenol, flavonoid and antioxidant contents of Java tea.MethodsThe research was arranged using nested (hierarchy design) with completely randomized design under a screen house at Karanganyar, Indonesia, from July to December 2019. The main factor was soil mulching (control; black plastic mulch, transparent plastic mulch, biodegradable mulch and rice straw mulch) with three replicates. The main factor was nested in the temporal hierarchy factor, namely harvest age which consisted of two levels, i.e., 80 and 100 days. The observation parameters were soil temperature of 10 min (maximum; mean; minimum and soil temperature-based Growing Degree Days, GDD) with sensors and logger; plant growth (plant height, number of leaves, fresh and dry weight); and secondary metabolites including phenol, flavonoids and antioxidant.ResultsThe results confirmed the order of the highest to the lowest mean soil temperature was resulted under the transparent plastic mulch > straw > black plastic mulch > control > biodegradable plastic mulch (26.69 > 26.29 > 26.10 > 26.07 > 25.68 °C, respectively). Overall, the harvest age 100 days resulted in higher plant growth, indicated by the higher fresh and dry weight of biomass, higher phenol and antioxidant contents than 80 days. Soil mulching, especially with plastic and biodegradable plastic mulches with long harvest age (100 days) effected into lower fresh and dry weight of plants. On the other hand, soil mulching indirectly resulted in lower phenol but higher flavonoid contents through higher soil temperature, while antioxidant contents were higher under the big soil temperature-based Growing Degree Day (GDD). The total phenol, flavonoids and antioxidant produced ranging from 193.75 to 412.50 mg GAE/ 100 g DW; 81.13 to 141.47 mg QE/ 100 g DW; and 1875.5–2144.4 µmol TE/g DW.ConclusionHigher maximum soil temperature resulted in lower phenol content, while higher minimum soil temperature and shorter harvest age increased total flavonoid. Longer harvest age produced more total phenol and antioxidant due to bigger soil temperature-based Growing Degree Day (GDD).

Purpose: Paddy fields in Indonesia have experienced a stagnation in productivity, where increasing fertilizer applications no longer result in higher yields. To address this, various strategies, including ameliorants, have been employed to enhance rice production. This study investigates the potential of biofertilizers to improve the efficiency of inorganic fertilizers, specifically slow-release fertilizers (SRF). The aim is to evaluate the impact of biofertilizer application on rice production when combined with inorganic fertilizers.Method: The experiment was conducted using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 10 treatments and 3 replications on 5m x 5m plots. The treatments included different combinations of inorganic fertilizers (NPK) and biofertilizers: P1 [SRF NPK 20-10-15 + Zn 0.2]; P2 [SRF NPK 20-10-15 + Cu 0.4 + Fe 0.4]; P3 [SRF NPK 15-15-10 + Cu 0.4 + Fe 0.4]; P4 [SRF NPK 15-15-10]; P5 [SRF NPK 15-15-10 + S 0.4 + Zn 0.2]; and P6-P10, which corresponded to P1-P5 combined with biofertilizer. In the biofertilizer treatments, the inorganic fertilizer dose was reduced to one-third of the original amount. Growth parameters and rice yield were measured.Results: The results showed that applying SRF at 60% of the standard fertilizer rate achieved comparable yields to full-dose conventional applications. Additionally, the integration of biofertilizers allowed for a 70% reduction in SRF usage without compromising rice production.Conclusion: The study shows that combining biofertilizers with SRF allows for a 70% reduction in SRF usage while supporting rice yields, offering an effective and sustainable solution to enhance rice production.