SUJI LEAF

Lidya Mandari10.70.0110

Yemima Rosa Putri Bunga 10.70.0139

Michiella Maharani J. 11.70.0087

Jan Janowski Cirugeda Foreign Student

INTRODUCTION Suji plant originally comes from the country

of Zaireand,Cameroon. The plant is included in family of Liliaceae

with the exact shape of bamboo. Suji is a very adaptable plant because it can

grow in different types of soil It can even grow properly just by soaking it into water. In general, suji grows in tropical or subtropical regions.

It can flourish up to1000 meters above sea level and in the mountainous areas or near source of water (e.g. well, smallriver),(Prasetyo, et al. 2012).

CLASSIFICATION Kingdom : Plantae Division : Spermatophyta Subdivision : Angiospermae Infradivision : Radiatopses Class : Monocotiledoneae Subclass : Lilidae Superorder : Lilianae Order : Liliales Family : Liliaceae Genus : Dracaenaatau Pleomele Species : Dracaena angustifolia atau Pleomele

angustifolia N.E.Br (Prasetyo, et al. 2012).

Suji plant originally comes from the country of Zaireand,Cameroon.

The plant is included in family of Liliaceae with the exact shape of bamboo.

Suji is a very adaptable plant because it can grow in different types of soil It can even grow properly just by soaking it into water.

In general, suji grows in tropical or subtropical regions. It can flourish up to1000 meters above sea level and in the mountainous areas or near source of water (e.g.well, smallriver)

The leaf of suji plant is often used in the food industry as food colouring.

Moreover, because of its beautiful shape, the plant suji is often used as ornamental plant.

Suji leaf has a bitter taste and smells nice.

(Prasetyo, et al. 2012).

TYPES Indonesia’s suji leaf is commonly found

in Java Island. It can be divided into 2 types namely Typica and Minor.

Typica leaf can reach the length of about 60 cm, has large petals, and grows in area below 500m ASL.

While Minor has short leaves and small petals, grows in area below 1000m ASL and also around wells,(Prasetyo, et al. 2012).

BENEFITS Suji plant has been used in food,

cosmetic, and medicine. In the food industry, suji leaf extract in aqueous medium has been used as pigments in many traditional foods such as cendol to give the green color. Suji leaf also provides a distinctive scent, although not as noticable as pandan leaf. While its young shoots can be made into vegetable dish(Prasetyo, et al. 2012).

Suji leaf also has a physiological function for the body. According to (Prangdimurti (2006) extract of Suji Leaf has antioxidant activity and hypocholesterolemic function in the digestive system.

The study done by Sari(2005) demonstrated the of cholesterol-binding ability of suji leaf extracts in vitro simulated gastrointestinal system. Chlorophyll in in Suji leaf has long been known as natural dyes.

However, these recent years, it is not only used as dye, but also for its a functional roles in our body. Result from the study reported chlorophyll andsome of its compound have antioxidant and anti-carcinogen function, (Rufaida,2008).

BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS Suji leaf has these following composition

of water content (73.25%), 2.07% ash, 4.98% protein, 4.96% fat and 14.74% carbohydrate based on % wet basis.

Qualitative analysis of the presence of phytochemical compounds shows that suji leaf contains saponinsin, flavonoids, triterpenoids and steroids in considerable amount.

The presence of triterpenoid compounds is expected to be contributing the high fat content in Suji Leaf (Prangdimurti,2007).

The green color in the Suji leaf is a manifestation of the presence of the chlorophyll pigmenT (about 3773,9 ppm).

Chlorophyll has an extreme instability to light, heat, oxygen, and chemical degradation .

Therefore , to ensure no changes in chlorophyll , We have to consider various factors before processing it.

( Gross, 1991)

Suji leaf contains A-chlorophyll and B- chlorophyll.

The A-Chlorophyll has a tetrapirol through Mg bond , the methyl substitution at position 1 , 3 , 5 and 8 , vinyl at position 2 , ethyl at position 4 , which is esterified with propionic fitil alcohol ( phytol ) at position 7 , keto at position 9 , and karbometoksi at position 10 .

Molecular formula of chlorophyll -a is C55H72N4O5Mg .

B-Chlorophyll has the same structure as A-Chlorophyll, except at position 3, there is a formal group instead of a methyl group owned by A-Chlorophyll.

The empirical formula of B-Chlorophyll is C55H70N4O6Mg .

(Alsuhendra, 2004)

APPLICATION