Characterization of the phytochemical and chlorophyll content as well as the morphology and anatomy of the Rhizophoraceae family in the mangrove forest in Bulaksetra, Pangandaran

Abstract

Mangrove is a tree that has adapted to live in a high salt environment and is one of the largest coastal resource potentials in West Java. Mangrove plants are potential sources for medicines due to the presence of bioactive compounds, that play active roles in disease prevention. The aim of this research was to investigate a number of different characteristics including the presence of phytochemical compounds and chlorophyll, morphology and the anatomy of the Rhizophoraceae family in the Mangrove Forest, Bulaksetra, Pangandaran. Phytochemical qualitative tests were performed to determine the content of phytochemical compounds (i.e. alkaloid, flavonoid, terpenoid, steroid, saponin, quinone, and tannin), spectrophotometry was used to determine the chlorophyll content, and characterization of morphological (i.e. type, shape, edge, nerved, texture, color, area and thickness) also anatomical (i.e. type and density of stomata) features were observed, and all observations were made for three different Rhizophoraceae plant leaves (Bruguiera sp., Ceriops decandra, and Rhizophora apiculata). In this study, it was found that Bruguiera sp. contained flavonoid, terpenoid, saponin, quinone, and tannin, as well as 0.329 mg/L of chlorophyll type A and 0.634 mg/L of chlorophyll type B. Ceriops decandra contained alkaloid, flavonoid, terpenoid, and tannin and 0.756 mg/L chlorophyll Type A and 1.267 mg/L chlorophyll type B. In addition, Rhizophora apiculata was found to contain alkaloid, flavonoid, steroid, saponin, quinone, and tannin and 0.287 mg/L chlorophyll type A and 0.628 mg/L of chlorophyll type B. The three species were shown to have differences in color, general shape, and tips of the leaves, whereas the type, textures, edges, and base shapes of the leaves were basically the same. Leaf area thickness was determined to be 48.308 cm2 and 0.952 mm for Bruguiera sp., 23.385 cm2 and 1.046 mm for Ceriops decandra, and 32.308 cm2 and 0.874 mm for Rhizophora apiculata. Furthermore, it was found that all three species have anomocytic stomata types; however, the stomatal densities differed with Bruguiera sp. having a density of 110,403 cell/mm2, Ceriops decandra had 52,654 cell/mm2, and Rhizophora apiculata had 57,749 cell/mm2.