Comparison of Extraction Methods for Green Betel Leaf (Piper betle L.) Based on Stock Solution Concentration

Abstract

Green betel leaf (Piper betle L.) is a medicinal plant widely recognized for its bioactive compounds, including flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, saponins, and essential oils, which exhibit antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities. The extraction method plays a crucial role in determining the efficiency of bioactive compound recovery from plant materials. This study aimed to compare several extraction methods for green betel leaf based on the concentration of the resulting stock solution as an indicator of extraction efficiency. Fresh green betel leaves were processed into dried simplicia and extracted using five different methods: maceration, partition and fractionation, digestion, ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE), and Soxhlet extraction. Methanol, n-hexane, and distilled water were used as extraction solvents according to the characteristics of each method. The concentration of each stock solution was calculated from the dry extract residue obtained after solvent evaporation. The results showed that UAE produced the highest stock solution concentration (2.4% w/v), followed by Soxhlet extraction (0.8% w/v), digestion (0.04% w/v), maceration (0.01% w/v), and partition and fractionation (0.0003% w/v). The superior performance of UAE was attributed to acoustic cavitation, which enhanced mass transfer while minimizing thermal degradation of heat-sensitive bioactive compounds. These findings demonstrate that UAE is the most effective extraction technique among the evaluated methods for obtaining bioactive compounds from green betel leaves and has considerable potential for developing natural cosmetic ingredients.