Exposure to light during the extraction process affects UV-Vis spectrophotometer profile of ethanol extract of Akar Kuning (Arcangelisia flava)

Akar kuning (Arcangelisia flava) is known to have a variety of active metabolites which can be extracted with polar solvents including ethanol. The process of extracting various metabolites from the akar kuning needs to be maximized by optimizing various conditions that affect the extraction process, including exposure to light. One method for assessing the success of the extraction process is to assess the UV-Vis spectrum profile. This study aims to determine how the exposure of light from akar kuning stem ethanol extract affects the UV-Vis spectrum profile. Extraction is done by maceration with ethanol solvent, using the UV-Vis spectrophotometry method to analyze the resulting extract. The experimental conditions were divided into three groups, consisting of samples that were extracted by exposure to sunlight, exposed to incandescent light bulbs, and not exposed to light at all. The results obtained showed that the extracted akar kuning sample in a condition not exposed to light at all produced the UV-Vis profile with the highest absorbance, almost double that of other conditions. This indicates that the extracted metabolite has the most quantity compared to other conditions. Conversely, the UV-Vis profile in samples exposed to sunlight has a peak profile that is different from other conditions, indicating that UV exposure to sunlight affects the type of metabolites extracted. These results confirm that the most optimal condition for obtaining as many metabolites as possible from akar kuning is in conditions not at all exposed to light.