Pharmacognostical Studies and Determination of Total Flavonoids of Paitan (Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray

Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray is one of the plants used in traditional medicine and belongs to Compositae family. In different parts of Indonesia, it is commonly known as “paitan and kembang bulan”. The study provides an early description of Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray) and complete the monographs data extract. This plant prospects to the main source of the raw material for the herb-drug product and some parameters identified were needed to ensure the safety, quality and efficacy of the product. The present study is to evaluate macrosand microscopic characteristic of the Indonesian plant and its quality parameter including fluorescence, physicochemical characteristics and phytochemical screening. Moisture content, ethanol and water-soluble extract was determined, and were discovered to be 11,27%, 4,73% and 18,01%. Total ash value and acid insoluble ash value were determined which was 10.29 and 0.72 % respectively. Phytochemical screening of aqueous ethanol extract of Tithonia diversifolia showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins and triterpenoids. The result showed that average content of flavonoid total is 69.1653 mg QE/g extract.