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Rafflesia kerrii is an endemic species to Peninsular Malaysia and Southern part of Thailand. The genus grows without the vegetative components such as, leaves, stems and true roots, where the only visible structure is the flower itself. It is easy to identify R. kerrii by its large dull red flowers, perigones covered by numerous small white pinkish warts and a wide diaphragm opening. However, there is a scarcity of knowledge about the species’s anatomical traits. Herein, this study is aimed to evaluate the anatomical characteristics of R. kerrii in Lojing Highlands by using micro techniques analysis. The results were compared to those of a similar species found in Thailand. Four main components of flower were analysed, these are; the perigone lobe, window, processes and ramenta. The anatomical analysis of R. kerrii collected in Lojing Highlands have revealed that all the four components had simple and uncomplicated structures. Both upper and bottom layers of the plant have epidermal cell layers. The ground tissues also have an undeveloped vascular bundle. Based on the findings, the anatomical characteristics of R. kerrii found in Lojing Highlands and in Khao Sok National Park in Thailand were identical and shared similar types of main tissues. However, there are minor differences such as in the presence of starch grains, distance between vascular bundles in perigone lobe, and the presence of trichome in the compartment of windows.

The inappropriate usage of antibiotic is one of the factors of the emergence of the antibiotic resistance bacteria that limit the effectiveness of the current antibiotic and lead to the treatment failure. The combination of plant extract with antibiotic approach may lead to the new ways in the treatment of the infectious diseases and this combination may reduce of bacterial resistance toward antibiotics. The objective of this study was to determine the synergistic effect of Alocasia longiloba fruit extract with Ampicillin and Tetracycline against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The synergistic effect of A. longiloba fruit extract and antibiotics was determined by using agar well diffusion and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) Resazurin 96-well micro-dilution methods. The results of this study showed the increasing in the inhibition zone when the plant extract was combined with Ampicillin against E. coli. The value of MIC only showed by Ampicillin on E. coli which was 12.5 μg/ml, and the combination of plant extract and Ampicillin (2000 + 12.5 μg/ml). These results indicated that the fruit extract of A. longiloba showed low antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus and this plant extract may show the inhibition if the concentration is increase and test against the different microorganisms.

Rafflesia kerri Meijer belongs to genus Rafflesia, recognized as the biggest flower in the world. This species found distributed in tropical rainforest of Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia. The flower believed to have medicinal values and used as traditional herbs by aborigine ethnic group and locals. Herein, this study was conducted to evaluate the total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and antioxidant activity of the flower by using several antioxidant assays, which includes 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radicals (DPPH) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). The extract of female ethanolic extract exhibited highest antioxidant activity in all of the assays (FRAP = 4642.844 ± 10.777 mM/mg) and median inhibition concentration (IC50 = 49.850 ± 2.179). The same extract showed the presence of phenolic and flavonoid content with respective value of (Gallic acid equivalent, GAE) of 1634.731 ± 20.465 mg/100g and Quercetin equivalent (QE = 817.000 ± 69.282 mg/g) respectively with significantly differences (p < 0.05) compared to male ethanolic extract. Thus, the flower is highly valuable not only for ecotourism industry but also has potent medicinal value for human health improvement.

Araceae is recognized as keladi hutan or ubi keladi to the local community in Malaysia. The aim of this study is to provide an update checklist and description on ecology of Araceae in Lojing Highlands, Gua Musang, Kelantan, Peninsular Malaysia. The survey was applied the random sampling technique. The result shows that a total of 25 species from 15 genera of Araceae were revealed from the area. This figure constitutes about 17.9% out of 140 species and 53.6% of the 28 genera of Araceae documented in Peninsular Malaysia. Most of them, 23 species or 92.0% are common in tropical rainforest. However, two species which considered as rare, these are Alocasia inornata Hallier f and Arisaema anomalum Hemsl.

The changing environments are giving a rise to free radical, causing development of degenerative disease. A search for natural antioxidant is required as the synthetic antioxidant reported has carcinogenic effects on living organisms. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of Alocasia farisii leaves and petioles using three different polarity solvent which are methanol, ethanol and ethyl acetate. The total phenolic content was evaluated using the Folin-Cioucalteu reagent with some modification and the antioxidant activity by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assay. The methanolic extract attained the highest total phenolic content and antioxidant activity at 46.615 μg GAE/g and 66.43 %, respectively. Ethyl acetate with the lowest polarity had the lowest value, 34.769 μg GAE/g total phenolic content and 58.274 % in antioxidant activity. The IC50 value shows methanol recorded the lowest value at 339.905 μg/mL, indicates high radical scavenging activity whereas ethyl acetate has highest IC50 value (400 μg/mL) indicates low radical scavenging. These finding provide useful information on the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of A. farisii that can be a reference for further research on this species of Araceae family. The leaves and petiole extracts of A. farisii may be exploited as natural sources of antioxidant.

Alocasia longiloba Miq belongs to Araceae family, believed to have the medicinal potential. However, the scientific evidences on this plant were limited. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity of the different extracts (methanol, ethyl acetate and hexane) of A. longiloba leaf blades. The TPC was investigated by Folin-Ciocalteu method and antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH scavenging assay. The results showed ethyl acetate extract had the highest content of phenolic with 46.013 mg GAE/g followed by methanol extract (32.936 mg GAE/g) and hexane extract (31.782 mg GAE/g). The hexane extract exhibited the highest DPPH antioxidant acitivity, followed by ethyl acetate and methanol with IC50 values 2.519 µg/mL, 2.758 µg/mL and 9.542 µg/mL respectively. The results indicate A. longiloba has natural sources of antioxidant that can be used for the medicinal purposes.

Araceae or aroid is familiarly known as keladi to the locals. The purpose of this study is to assess the diversity and ecology of Araceae in the Water Catchment Area of Ulu Sat, Kelantan, Peninsular Malaysia. The random sampling method was applied. A total of 26 species from 13 genera of Araceae were recorded from the water catchment area of Ulu Sat, Machang, Kelantan, Peninsular Malaysia. This represents about 18.6% out of an estimated 140 species and 46.2% of the 28 genera of Araceae reported for Peninsular Malaysia. The result also shows that 24 species or 92.3% of the collection are the common Araceae species found in lowland dipterocarp forest in Peninsular Malaysia. However, the collection include the species recently recorded, Aglaonema cochinchinense Engl. and the endemic species, Alocasia puber (Hassk.) Schott for Peninsular Malaysia. The paper will also discuss the distribution and ecology of some important Araceae collected from this area.

Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott is an edible aroid from the family of Araceae. It is a tuber crop which is known for its variety of cooking preparation. This study aimed to evaluate the Total Phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activities by using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radicals (DPPH) scavenging assay. Methanol fraction showed the highest TPC, whereas the extract obtained using 95% ethanol showed the highest inhibition in DPPH scavenging assay and IC50 values of 308 µg/mL. These results indicate that C. esculenta has antioxidant activity with high phenolic contents which can be consumed as a functional food to increase health benefits and lower the risk of diseases.