Antioxidant Activity Test of Pine Leaf Herbal Tea (Pinus merkusii) with Addition of Stevia Leaves (Stevia rebaudiana) as a Natural Sweetener Using DPPH Method
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30872/jtpc.v10i1.356Keywords:
Pine leaves, Stevia leaves, Herbal tea, Antioxidant, DPPHAbstract
Free radicals contribute significantly to the development of various diseases, making antioxidant intake essential for maintaining health. Plants such as pine needles and stevia leaves are known to be rich sources of natural antioxidants. This study aimed to develop a combined herbal tea from pine and stevia leaves at three formulation ratios (1:1, 1:2, and 2:1) and to evaluate its antioxidant activity using the DPPH radical scavenging method, with quercetin as a reference compound. The research involved simplicia preparation and characterization, herbal tea formulation, quality evaluation, and antioxidant activity assessment. Pine and stevia leaf simplicia met quality requirements, with acceptable moisture content, extractive values, and ash parameters. The formulated herbal tea also complied with quality standards. Antioxidant testing showed IC₅₀ values of 50.51 ppm for pine leaf tea and 61.60 ppm for stevia leaf tea. In contrast, the combined formulations exhibited significantly lower IC₅₀ values of 30.57 ppm (1:1), 39.18 ppm (1:2), and 25.13 ppm (2:1), indicating enhanced antioxidant activity. All combined formulations were classified as having very strong antioxidant activity (IC₅₀ < 50 ppm), demonstrating that pine–stevia herbal tea has strong free-radical scavenging capacity and promising potential as a functional herbal product.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Muhammad Andry, Wulan Purnama, Nia Novranda Pertiwi, Muhammad Amin Nasution (Author)
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