Potential antioxidant and antibacterial activity of leaves extract from endemic Nepenthes maxima Reinw. ex Ness, Central Sulawesi

Nepenthes sp. has been widely used by the community as a traditional medicine to treat various diseases and posses pharmacological effects such as antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, antimalarial, antidiabetic, and hypolipidemic. This study aims to identify secondary metabolites, antioxidant activity, total phenolic contents, and antibacterial activity in leaf extract of endemic Nepenthes maxima Reinw. ex Ness, a special variety from Poso, Central Sulawesi. The antioxidant activity test was carried out using the DPPH method, total phenolic content was tested using the Folin-Ciocalteu method, and an antibacterial test was performed with the agar diffusion method. The results of the antioxidant activity test on leaves showed that the methanol extract had a stronger activity with an IC50 of 72.7905 g/mL with a total phenolic content of 610.145 mg GAE/g extract followed by ethyl acetate extract with an IC50 of 105.1922 g/mL a total phenolic content of 194.357 mg GAE/g extract. Both extracts exhibited antibacterial activities against several tested bacteria. It is suggested that leaf extract of Nepenthes maxima has good antioxidant activity in reducing free radicals and mild antibacterial activity.