Total phenol content of accessions of Kencur (Kaempferia galanga L.) at different altitudes

Kencur (Kaempferia galanga L.) is one of the potential medicinal plants with a high enough market demand so that the cultivation of kencur is still quite promising. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of altitude on the total phenol content of several accessions of kencur. The research was carried out at the Tropical Biopharmaceutical Laboratory, Bogor Agricultural University, from June to November 2017. The treatment tested was kencur accession rhizome taken from two altitudes, 214 m asl (lowlands) and 780 m asl (highlands). 10 g of kencur accession rhizome powder was added with methanol in a ratio of 1:10, then macerated while shaking using a magnetic stirrer (25 °C; 180 min). The extract was filtered and the filtrate was dried using a rotary vacuum evaporator (50 rpm; 60 °C) until a dry crude extract was obtained. Total phenol was tested by the Folin-Ciocalteu method at a wavelength of 730 nm. The results showed that altitude significantly affected the total phenol content of the kencur accession rhizome extract. The highest total phenol content value was obtained from Galesia 1 (GAL 1) in the lowlands of 17.92 mg/g (equivalent to gallic acid/GAE) and in the highlands obtained from PBG accession (Purbalingga) of 24.85 GAE mg/g compared to other accessions.