Assessment of the synergistic effect of a poly-herbals combination on the antioxidant activity through a statistical approach

Abstract

Poly-herbals combination was applied to enhance biological activity, particularly antioxidant activity. This present study was purposed to assess the synergistic interaction of a combination of five traditional Indonesian herbal plants through a simultaneous and integrated statistical technique. The plants were extracted using maceration, and purification was conducted before extraction to eliminate the ballast compounds. A simplex lattice design comprising 35 design points was utilized to understand herbal combinations' main effect and interaction through multiple linear regression analysis on the antioxidant activity using DPPH and ABTS assays. The results showed that C. longa, P. niruri, and C. xanthorrhiza had the most potent antioxidant activity than M. oleifera and C. asiatica. The presence of C. longa modulated the synergistic interaction between combinations. Meanwhile, the non-curcuminoid content in C. xanthorrhiza played a fundamental role in reducing the antioxidant activity. The synergistic interaction could enhance the antioxidant activity through poly-herbals combination. In addition, particular consideration should be withdrawn by antagonism interaction in the poly-herbals combination for reducing the biological activity.