Background and Objective: The catʼs whiskers purple variety (Orthosiphon aristatus Blume Miq.) is a plant with pharmacological activity as an antihypertensive and antioxidant. This research aims to facilitate the development of herbal medicines derived from the leaves of the catʼs whiskers purple variety (Orthosiphon aristatus Blume Miq.) by processing dry materials, namely thick extracts, into dry extracts to facilitate the process of compounding and formulating pharmaceutical preparations and to determine the effect of drying agents on Flavonoid levels from the leaves of the catʼs whisker purple variety (Orthosiphon aristatus Blume Miq.).
Materials and Methods: The drying materials used are lactose and SAS (Synthetic Amorphous Silica). The best moisture content is then sought through comparison between the drying agent and the thick extract. The best moisture content for the lactose drying agentʼs ratio is (1:2) between the thick extract and the drying agent and for the SAS drying agentʼs ratio, it is (1:1.5) between the thick extract and the drying agent.
Results: The TLC profile of the dry extract of lactose and SAS showed an Rf value of 0.6 with bright blue fluorescence for flavonoids. Determination of flavonoid levels using the method. The flavonoid content of lactose dry extract was 3.108±0.04 mg QE/g extract and for SAS dry extract, 5.382±0.07 mg QE/g extract. Higher levels of flavonoids were found in the SAS dry extract. The results of the statistical analysis of the Independent-Samples t-test showed that the levels of flavonoids in lactose and SAS dry extracts had significant differences.
Conclusion: The superior flavonoid levels observed in SAS dry extracts highlight the importance of selecting appropriate drying methods in the preparation of herbal medicines. Future research should continue to explore the pharmacological applications of these extracts, as well as the optimisation of extraction and drying processes to maximise their therapeutic efficacy.
Key words: Catʼs whiskers purple variety, dry extract, flavonoids, lactose, synthetic amorphous silica