ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY COMPARISON OF <i>PEPEROMIA PELLUCIDA</i> AND <i>PIPER CROCATUM</i> LEAF EXTRACTS USING THE DPPH METHOD (<i>IN VITRO</i>)

Peperomia pellucida (L.) Kunth and Piper crocatum Ruiz and Pav are members of the Piperaceae family, which contains many active phytochemical compounds, one of which functions as an antioxidant. Antioxidants in the human body play a crucial role in protecting cells and tissues from damage by free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules that can damage cells through a process called oxidation. The purpose of this study was to compare the levels of antioxidant activity in the two plants using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. The processing was conducted from simplicial to extraction, using the maceration method with 70% ethanol solvent. The UV-Vis spectrophotometer was used in this study for the quantitative analysis of a compound in solution, with a control absorbance of 0.772 at a wavelength of 515 nm. The data processing and the creation of the linear regression curve were conducted using Microsoft Excel 2019. A phytochemical analysis of both plants was performed by mixing specific extracts and reagents, resulting in the presence of flavonoid compounds, alkaloids, tannins, triterpenoids, and saponins. Meanwhile, the result of the total weight of Peperomia pellucida (L.) Kunth extract of 10.5 grams had an IC50 of 59.53 ppm. An IC50 value of 34.22 ppm was obtained from the Piper crocatum Ruiz and Pav extract, corresponding to a total weight of 28.9 grams. This study demonstrated that the antioxidant activity in Piper crocatum Ruiz and Pav was higher than that of Peperomia pellucida (L.) Kunth. Therefore, Piper crocatum Ruiz and Pav has a better potential source of natural antioxidants than Peperomia Pellucida (L.) Kunth.