EVALUATION OF ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIFUNGAL PROPERTIES OF PALU SHALLOT (Allium ascalonicum L VAR. Aggregatum)

Shallot is one of the typical plants at Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, famous by local people as fried Shallot. It is used as a cooking spice and traditional medicine for treating various diseases. This study was carried out to assess the phytochemical constituent including total phenolics, total flavonoids, and quercetin content of the Palu shallot (Allium ascalonicum L var. aggregatum), and to determine the antifungal and antioxidant properties of this plant ethanolic extract. Total phenolics/ flavonoids and quercetin concentration were determined by spectrophotometry UV-Vis and Reverse Phase - High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) methods. Antifungal activity and antioxidant capacity of the ethanolic extract was assayed by using diffusion agar and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) methods. Results of the study revealed that the total flavonoids content of the ethanolic extract was 0.3634 ± 0.018 mg QE/100 mg while total phenolics content was 0.4834 ± 0.003 mg GAE/100 mg. Meanwhile, the quercetin content was 65.46±0.0002 mg/kg. Further, ethanolic extract of Palu shallot also showed the radical scavenging activity with IC50 of 0.1398 mg/mL and growth inhibition on Candida albicans with inhibitory zone diameter range from 7.57 to 16.51 mm. This study confirms the high quality of Palu shallot as it has high total flavonoids, represented by the high quercetin concentration, and it is proposed to be a source for an antioxidant and antifungal medicinal herb.