Book Description

A total of 275 methanol extracts from edible Indonesian and Malaysian plants were screened for their in vitro anti-tumor-promoting activities by using the tumor promoter 12-O-hexadecanoylphorbol-concentration of 200 ug/mL, 70% of the total extracts inhibited EBV activation by 30% or more. The rate is comparable to and much higher than those observed in our previous tests of edible Thai (60%) and Japanese (26%) plants respectively. Zerumbone, a humulene-type sesquiterpene, was then isolated from the thizomes of Zingiber zerumbet as a potent inhibitor of EBV activation in Raji cells (IC50 = 0.14 uM). In addition, 19 species of plant food-items of wild primates in Pangandaran, Indonesia, were tested, and 6 species, Alsophi glauca, Cinnamomum sintoc, Saurauia cauliflora, Rubus alpestris, Toona sureni, and Litsea cubeba, were found to be highly active.