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This paper presents the effect of different extraction methods on total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and kaempferol yield from Cassia alata via microstructure analysis. TPC and TFC of C. alata were measured spectrophotometrically by using Folin Ciocalteu assay and aluminium chloride colorimetric assay, respectively. Identification and quantification of kaempferol were performed using an ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array (UPLC-PDA). The results showed that microwave assisted extraction (MAE) has the highest TPC, TFC and kaempferol yield (37.92 ± 0.50 mg GAE/g DW, 135.18 ± 2.90 mg QE/g DW, 17.67 ± 1.06 mg KA/g DW), followed by ultrasonic assisted extraction (UAE) (26.91 ± 0.43 mg GAE/g DW, 86.69 ± 1.67 mg QE/g DW, 14.19 ± 0.43 mg KA/g DW) and maceration extraction (ME) (20.68 ± 1.63 mg GAE/g DW, 70.13 ± 4.43 mg QE/g DW, 12.01 ± 0.25 mg KA/g DW). The scanning electron microscopy analysis shows extensive contraction of the plant cell mesophyl and epidermis in the UAE and MAE compared to that of ME which yielded TPC and TFC about 24% to 93% higher than that of ME. The glandular trichomes completely dissapear from the MAE sample which explains the highest kaempferol yield obtained. The efficiency of polyphenols extraction relies on the disruption level of the C. alata leaves.

This paper studies on the effect of the addition of carbon filler towards the performance of superabsorbent polymer composite (SAPc). In this work, the SAPc was synthesized using inverse suspension polymerization method. The process involved two different solutions; dispersed phase which contains partially neutralized acrylic acid, acrylamide, APS and NN-Methylenebisacrylamide, and continuous phase which contains cyclohexane, span-80 and carbon filler (at different weight percent). The optimum SAPs and filler ratio was measured in terms of water retention in soil and characterized by Mastersizer, FTIR and SEM. Biodegradability of the polymer was determined by soil burial test and SAPc with 0.02% carbon has highest biodegradability rate. SAPc with 0.04wt% carbon showed the optimal water retention percentage among all the samples. The synthesized SAPc producing spherical shapes with parallel alignment due to the addition of carbon fiber. It can be concluded that the addition of carbon fiber able to enhance the performance of the SAP composite (SAPc).