POTENTIAL ALTERNATIVE SERUM AND URINE CREATININE REAGENT FROM THE PHENOLIC CONTENT OF THE Cymbopogon citratus (LEMONGRASS) LEAVES EXTRACT

Abstract. Accurate assessment of kidney function is essential for the early detection, diagnosis, and management of renal diseases, with serum and urine creatinine levels serving as widely used biomarkers for evaluating glomerular filtration rate (GFR). The study was conducted to assess the potential of lemongrass phenolic crude extract (LPCE) as an alternative reagent for the determination of creatinine levels in serum and urine. The study employed an experimental-comparative design to evaluate its effectiveness as a natural and sustainable alternative using the Jaffe Kinetic Method and a commercial Profame reagent kit as controls. Phenolic extraction was achieved using column chromatography, and total phenol content was measured using the Folin-Ciocalteu method. The researchers assessed the percent yield of LPCE and tested four concentrations: 100%, 75%, 50%, and 25% to determine the best formulation. The extract was formulated into a test reagent and applied to serum and urine samples collected from five volunteer donors. Included in the results of this research, a 23.01% phenolic yield was produced from lemongrass leaves, with 6.25% LPCE identified as the most suitable concentration for serum creatinine determination, showing comparable performance to the standard reagent in terms of pH, color intensity, and accuracy. Therefore, the hypothesis asserting no significant differences among phenolic crude extract concentrations in total phenolic content is rejected, whereas the hypothesis proposing no significant difference in performance relative to the standard creatinine reagent is accepted. Overall, the study aimed to develop a lemongrass-based creatinine reagent as a safer, more affordable, and eco-friendly alternative to synthetic reagents, using locally sourced materials to reduce costs and reliance on imports. Keywords: Column chromatography, jaffe kinetic method, kidney function test, picric acid, and phenolic extract