Determination of selected phytochemicals in different variety of salak (Salacca zalacca)

Salak (Salacca zalacca; synonym: Salacca edulis, Calamus zalacca) is a species of palm tree (family Arecaceae) native to Malaysia and Indonesia. The fruit grows in clusters at the base of the palm, and is also known as snake fruit due to its reddish-brown scaly skin. Four different varieties of the fruit (i.e. SS1, SS2, SS3 and SS4) have been established by Sabah Department of Agriculture and are cultivated in snake fruit farm located in district of Sandakan, in the state of Sabah, Malaysia. The varieties have been categorized based on the differences of characteristic of the fruits (i.e. colour, texture, size, aroma and taste). This study was conducted to investigate the ascorbic acid, total phenolic and total flavonoid contents in the edible portion of the fruits. Ascorbic acid was determined using DCPIP method [1]. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent [2] and aluminium chloride method [3], respectively. The results showed that SS1 contained the highest amount of ascorbic acid with 1.28mg/100g, followed by SS2 (1.05mg/100g), SS4 (0.84mg/100g) and SS3 (0.73mg/100g) (p<0.05). Total phenolic and total flavonoid contents showed the same trend with SS1 displayed the highest values, followed by SS2, SS3 and SS4. In conclusion, it was found that SS1 has a significantly higher amount of studied phytochemicals compared to the other varieties and should be regarded as a valuable source of nutraceutical. Further study is carried out to determine the biological properties in vitro and in vivo.

Acknowledgements: Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) of Malaysia and Sabah Department of Agriculture.

References: 1. AOAC method (14^th) edition (1984): 844–845

2. Velioglu, YS. et al. (1998)J Agr Food Chem 46: 4113–4117

3. Zhishen, J. et al. (1999) Food Chem 64: 555–559