Radical Scavenging Activity of Kemenyan Resin Produced by an Indonesian Native Plant, Styrax sumatrana

Kemenyan resin from Styrax sumatrana is a unique non-timber forest product (NTFP) native from Sumatera Island, Indonesia. It possesses a wide range of applications in the pharmaceutical, perfume, and cosmetics industries. In this paper, six kemenyan resin samples were investigated to evaluate their free radical scavenging activity using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) reagent. The kemenyan resin samples, which originated from North Tapanuli, Pakpak Bharat, and Humbang Hasundutan, showed high antioxidant activity with $IC_{50}$ < 16 mg/L. The antioxidant activity of common kemenyan resin constituents, i.e., cinnamic acid, ethyl cinnamate, gallic acid, and vanillin was also investigated as positive control, although they exhibited lower antioxidant activity ($IC_{50}$ < 1000 mg/L), except for gallic acid ($IC_{50}$ = 5,23 mg/L). The total phenolic and flavonoid contents (TPC and TFC) for all samples were 44-66 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g sample and 143-160 mg quarcetin equivalents (QE)/g sample. The results revealed that kemenyan resin has high potency as an antioxidant and could be used as a natural antioxidant resource.