ABSTRACT

The use of a plant as an ingredient in traditional medicine requires scientific evidence to determine its properties. Cat's whiskers (Orthosiphon aristatus) is one of the widely used traditional medicinal plants in various Asian and European countries. This study aimed to determine the pharmacognostic properties of purple and white varieties of O. aristatus. Aqueous and ethanolic extract of the stem and leaves of purple and white varieties of O. aristatus was prepared and investigated for the presence of active ingredients. The AlCl3 colorimetric method was used for the estimation of flavones and flavonols. The level of flavonoid was reported 13.06 ± 0.13 mg QE / 1g and 6.17 ± 0.049 mg QE / 1g for the leaves and stem extracts of purple varieties respectively while this value was reported 9.76 ± 0.15 mg QE / 1g and 3.79 ± 0.03 mg QE / 1g for the white variety. From the results of the study, it can be concluded that the purple variety has a significantly higher amount of flavonoid then the white variety.

KEYWORDS:Orthosiphon aristatus Purple variety White variety Crude drugs characteristic