Melinjo Fruit Skin was Safe to Treat the Uric Acid
Synthetic drugs for hyperurysemia (uric acid) such as allopurinol had some side effects, including namely vomiting, diarrhea, peripheral neuritis, necrotizing vasculitis, and aplastic anemia, skin allergies; and could cause cataracts. For that, many people were turning to the herbal medicines.
If during this time the melinjo fruit was believed to aggravate the uric acid sufferers, then what was about the melinjo skin? To find out this, the student from the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA), Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), Anggun Nia Dewi, conducted the research about the effect of the acute toxicity from the ethanol extract of the melinjo fruit skin.
This ethanol extract of the melinjo fruit skin was used to decrease the uric acid in the body. The toxicity of the material could be defined as the ability of the ingredient to provide the toxic effect or the damage to the living organism. This test was useful in the preliminary test or the reference in the safe dose determination of the ingredient of the subsequent medicine consumed by the humans.
“The acute toxicity from the consumption of the melinjo fruit skin extract is classified as the mild toxicity,” she said.
This woman born in Madiun conducted a study using a test animal in the form of the male mice with the strain of DDY. After making the ethanol extract of the skin of the melinjo fruit, then the extract was given to the test animal with different dosage groups.
“In this acute toxicity test, it is also conducted the observation on the impact of the liver and kidney organs. The histopathologic features of the liver and kidney given the skin extract of the melinjo begin to show the mild abnormalities, such as the degeneration in the extract giving of 300 mg/kgBB. However, this disorder does not provide a significant effect on the damage to the organ dysfunction to the extract giving of 5000 mg/kgBB. So, the results of the liver and kidney hispatology are defined as safe and do not provide a meaningful effect on the damage and the organ dysfunction,” she said.
The content of the extract itself was known to contain the active compounds of tannin, flavonoids, saponins, and triterpenoids. This active compound acted as the antihyperurysemia.
“The hyperurysemia or the state of the body that experiences the increase of the uric acid level from the normal limit can be treated with the ethanol extract of the skin of the melinjo fruit and does not adversely affect if consumed in the short term. With the consumption of the natural ingredients such as the ethanol extract of the melinjo fruit skin can reduce the side effects, and the price is relatively affordable,” she explained.(KMU/Zul)
