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The increase in antibiotics resistance is a serious health issue that escalated the difficulty of bacterial infection control. There is hope for developing alternative medicines for the various bacterial infections treatment using medicinal plants. Macaranga gigantea is a medicinal plant that has been used widely as a folk medicine in the treatment of a cough, fever, stomach aches, and inflammation. The study was aimed to evaluate the antimycobacterial and antibacterial activity followed by phytochemical profiling using Gas chromatography - Mass spectrometry (GS-MS) of M. gigantea stem methanolic extract. The disk diffusion assay was carried out to evaluate the anti-mycobacterial and anti-bacterial activity. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined using tetrazolium microplate assay method. GS-MS profiling was done to identify the chemical constituents in the extract. The finding showed that S. aureus (IZD= 15.00 ± 0.00 mm) was the most sensitive to methanol extract of M. gigantea, followed by M. smegmatis (IZD= 14.67 ± 0.58 mm). The extract exhibited the lowest MIC against S. aureus (1.56 mg/ml) while no inhibition occurred at all against Salmonella typhimurium. The GC-MS profiling of methanol extract of M. gigantea demonstrated the presence of at least 33 chemical constituents. The major compounds were 2-Isopropoxyphenol (6.71%), hexadecanoic acid (5.83%), 12-Hydroxystearic acid (4.49%), ketone, methyl 2-methyl-1,3-oxothiolan-2-yl (4.45%), 2,4-dihydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furan-3-one (2.85%), phenol, 2-ethyl-4,5-dimethyl- (2.70%) and cyclopentadecanone, 2-hydroxy- (2.44%), among others. The study revealed that M. gigantea methanolic extract displayed both antimycobacterial and antibacterial activity with wide range of compounds in the extract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aim of this research was to formulate the microcapsules of Macaranga gigantea leaves extract with solvent evaporation method using Ethocel 10 cP and Eudragit E100 as matrix. Methods: M. gigantea leaves were extracted using ethanol 96%. This extract was dried by rotary evaporator. The microencapsulation process of M. gigantea leaves extract was conducted by solvent evaporation method (O/W: oil in water). The formula of M. gigantea leaves extract microcapsules were designed into six formulas (Eudragit E100: FA1, FA2, FA3 and Ethocel 10 cP: FB1, FB2, FB3). Microcapsules of M. gigantea leaves extract were characterized for particle size, in terms of surface morphology by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and encapsulation efficiency. Antioxidant activity of the formulation have been evaluated by DPPH method. Physical characterization on microparticles were performed by conducting entrapment efficiency and SEM picture. Results: In this research, the micoparticles containing M. gigantea extract has been developed by using ethyl cellulose (Ethocel 10 cP) and eudragit (Eudragit E100) as polymer matrix. The results showed that high concentration of polymer (Ethocel 10 cP and Eudragit E100) used in microencapsulation resulted in better M. gigantea leaves extract microcapsules in terms of physical characteristics. Particle size of microcapsules containing M. gigantea leaves extract were in the range of 3.564 to 5.887 µm. Encapsulation efficiency (% EE) was categorized as good because the value were = 80% to which 85.978% (FA3) and 88.992% (FB3). SEM picture of FA3 (Eudragit E100) revealed that the surface of microcapsule were rough and porous. When Ethocel 10 cP used as polymer, a smoother surface and less visible pores of microcapsule were obtained. The antioxidant ability of M. gigantea leaves extract microcapsule showed that IC50 values was 64.51 ppm. Conclusion: It can be concluded that microcapsules of M. gigantea leaves extract can be prepared by solvent evaporation method by using Eudragit E100 and Ethocel 10 cP as polymer matrix. M. gigantea leaves has potent antioxidant activity either as extract or after formulated into microcapsules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This research main goal is to study the antiplasmodial activity of Macaranga gigantea leaf ethanolic extract and its major components on malaria parasites using ex vivo model. Methods: This study was conducted by extraction of M. gigantea leaves using ethanol and isolation of its major constituent. The extract and isolate were tested ex vivo on Balb-C mice's blood after i.p. administration of Plasmodium berghei strain ANKA. Antiplasmodial activity was observed from mice blood treated by various concentration of either extract or isolate and the parasitaemia percentage were determined by calculating infected blood cell after 24 h of the treatment. It is expressed as decreased of parasitaemia levels and percent of inhibition. Qualitative analysis of active fraction were tested by HPLC method. Chemical structure of isolate were characterized by using UV, IR, ¹H-NMR, 13C-NMR and MS spectrophotometry. Results: Ex vivo antiplasmodial study gave the percent inhibition as much as 92.1; 85.7; 64.1; 41.5 and 21.7% at extract concentrations of 300, 100, 30, 10 and 3 μg/ mL respectively. The IC50 values of the extract was 27.1 µg/ml. With respect to the percent of inhibition, at the same concentration, the isolate showed activity as much as 70.2; 62.5; 39.1; 21.7 and 10.8%. The IC50 value of the isolate was 60.2 µg/ml. At the same concentration with extract and Isolate, Pyrimethamine as positive control gave percent inhibition of 94; 87.5; 44.8; 15.; and 12%, with IC50 of 31.4 µg/ml. The results showed that major constituent of M. gigantea leaves is flavonoid. HPLC analysis using a photo diode-array detector showed that the active fraction have same retention time with that of apigenin as standard. Based on instrumental analysis data and compared with literature, a flavonoid derivate known as apigenin can be said has been isolated. Conclusion: It can be concluded that either M. gigantea leaves extract or isolated active constituent known as apigenin have potent antiplasmodial property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The total pyrolysis yields of M. gigantea ranged from 45% to 65%. • Biochar analyses show that thermal decomposition of M. gigantea occurred at >300 °C. • The E α -α relationship most closely resembled that of some non-woody species. • The average E α of M. gigantea pyrolysis were 65.5–87.7 kJ/mol. • TG-FTIR showed that CO 2 production occurred in a large number of separate stages. Fast-growing wood Macaranga gigantea has been pyrolyzed and its pyrolysis products have been characterized and their formation kinetics studied. Pyrolysis of M. gigantea wood was carried out by varying the temperature and time of pyrolysis to determine the effect of these two parameters on product yields and product characteristics. In general, an increase in pyrolysis temperature and time increased the yield of liquid and gas products, the concentration of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin-derived compounds, but decreased the biochar yield. The organic phase liquid pyrolysis products mainly contained phenolic compounds and their derivatives, eugenols, furans, aldehydes and ketones. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analyses of biochar showed that thermal decomposition of M. gigantea required temperatures higher than 300 °C to optimize thermal decomposition and carbonization of lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose. The concentration of phenols and benzenediols in biochar decreased with an increase in pyrolysis temperature. M. gigantea pyrolysis kinetics studies showed that wood pyrolysis occurred through four main stages with activation energy (E α) values, based on calculations by the Friedman and Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose methods, of 28.1–99.0 kJ/mol and 35.6–104.9 kJ/mol, respectively. The spectra produced by thermogravimetric analyzer coupled with a Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy showed that H 2 O and CO 2 were produced during pyrolysis and the volatile compounds produced were predominantly phenolic compounds, in accord with characterization results of the liquid products by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sprouting ability is highly variable among different tree species. In many cases, there are trade-offs in carbon allocations between growth and storage in seedlings. However, this trade-off is likely to change with growth stages from seedling to mature plant because carbon investments in reproductive activities and/or risk of disturbance also change by species and growth stage. To examine how sprouting ability and carbohydrate storage change with growth stage, we compared two tropical secondary-forest trees, Macaranga bancana and M. gigantea, which have different ecological traits. Maximum tree size and growth rate are higher in M. gigantea. We monitored sprout growth and stored resources, including total non-structural carbohydrate ( TNC) and nitrogen in the root, among different tree sizes for 12 months following stem-cutting treatment. Sprouting ability (total sprout mass) and TNC concentrations were significantly higher in small individuals than in larger specimens in both species. TNC concentration decreased in all size classes after stem cutting. Macaranga bancana had greater sprout survivorship than M. gigantea, which had higher sprouting ability in larger tree-size classes. Thus, sprouting ability likely depends on root TNC concentration and tree-size class in both Macaranga species. Higher TNC concentration and sprout survival rates in M. bancana may be related to greater carbon allocation in survival than in growth. This hypothesis is consistent with the ecological traits of M. bancana, such as its growth rate, which was lower than that of M. gigantea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new farnesylated flavonol derivative, macagigantin (1), together with two known flavonoids, glyasperin A (2) and apigenin (3), had been isolated from the acetone extract of the leaves of Macaranga gigantea. The structure of the new compound was elucidated as 6-farnesylkaempferol based on its spectroscopic data, including UV, IR, 1D and 2D NMR, and HR-EI-MS spectra. Compounds 1-3 were evaluated for their cytotoxic properties against P-388 cells, their IC50 values being 11.3, 6.0, and 5.1 μM, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The methanolic fresh leaf extracts of Macaranga gigantea, Macaranga pruinosa, Macaranga tanarius and Macaranga triloba were screened for their antioxidant properties (AOP), tyrosinase inhibition and antibacterial activities. Total phenolic content (TPC), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging, ferric-ion reducing power (FRAP), ferrous-ion chelating (FIC) and lipid peroxidation inhibition (LPI) activities were used to evaluate the AOP. Modified 3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine (L-DOPA) method was used to determine tyrosinase inhibition activity, whereas antibacterial activity was determined using the disc-diffusion technique. TPC screening of the same species from different collection sites showed no significant difference between sites. M. triloba showed the highest ascorbic acid equivalent antioxidant activity (AEAC), FRAP and LPI values. M. tanarius, which showed the lowest TPC, AEAC, FRAP and LPI activities, exhibited the best FIC activity. M. pruinosa showed the best tyrosinase inhibition activity, whereas M. triloba showed the best antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria species, with minimal inhibition dosage (MID) values as low as 10μg/disc. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

On a monoaxial erect stem of trees with continuous leafing, the older leaves would be quickly shaded by newer (upper) leaves if the trees did not have any compensating mechanisms to avoid self-shading. We hypothesized that the dynamic adjustment of leaf deployment, by regulating the patterns of leaf growth and by changing leaf orientation as leaves age, is a compensating mechanism. To verify this hypothesis, we analyzed leaf development and crown structure of a Far Eastern tropical pioneer tree species, Macaranga gigantea (Rub. f. et Toll.) M.A., which unfolds huge leaves directly on a monoaxial stem with a short leafing interval. Petioles required more than 90 days for full elongation and the petiole angle (the angle between the petiole axis and the vertical) increased over time. Thus, a series of leaves on a stem progressively increased in petiole length and petiole angle from the youngest to the oldest leaves. This is beneficial because it decreases the degree of self-shading within a crown. A simulation suggested that an average crown for the M. gigantea seedlings, which was constructed using empirically determined morphometric data cannot entirely eliminate self-shading within the crown. But an average crown had a lower degree of self-shading, with less dry mass allocation to the petiole than simulated crowns that were identical to the average crown in all but one respect: they had constant petiole lengths or petiole angles. We conclude that M. gigantea seedlings reduce self-shading by regulating elongation of the petiole and changes in the petiole angle with increasing leaf age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]