Context: In many regions of Indonesia, there are numerous traditional herbal preparations for treatment of infectious diseases. However, their antimicrobial potential has been poorly studied by modern laboratory methods. Objective: This study investigates in vitro antimicrobial activity of 49 ethanol extracts from 37 plant species used in Indonesian traditional medicine for treatment against Candida albicans, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Materials and methods: The plants were collected from the Biopharmaca collection garden, Bogor, Indonesia. The plant material was dried, finely grounded, extracted using ethanol, concentrated, and the dried residue was dissolved in 100% DMSO. Antimicrobial activity was determined in terms of a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) using a broth microdilution method in 96-well microplates. Results: The extract of Orthosiphon aristatus (Blume) Miq. (Lamiaceae) leaf produced the strongest antimicrobial effect, inhibiting the growth of C. albicans (MIC 128 μg/mL), S. aureus (MIC 256 μg/mL), E. faecalis (MIC 256 μg/mL) and P. aeruginosa (MIC 256 μg/mL). The leaf extract of Woodfordia floribunda Salisb. (Lythraceae) also exhibited significant effect against C. albicans (MIC 128 μg/mL), S. aureus (MIC 256 μg/mL) and E. faecalis (MIC 256 μg/mL). Rotheca serrata (L.) Steane & Mabb. (Lamiaceae) leaf extract inhibited the growth of S. aureus (MIC 256 µg/mL) and C. albicans (MIC 256 µg/mL). Discussion and conclusions: The leaf extract of O. aristatus and W. floribunda exhibited a significant anti-candidal effect. Therefore, both of these plants can serve as prospective source materials for the development of new anti-candidal agents.

The antioxidant is defined as any substance that could delay or prevent oxidative damage by free radicals. The antioxidant inhibits the oxidative damage by free radicals through several mechanisms. The sources of the antioxidant are abundantly available in nature and can be found in the daily diet such as fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts, leaves, roots, and barks. Several major compounds identified as antioxidants such as polyphenols, vitamins, and carotenoids. This article provides ageneral summary of the most common in vitromethods for determining antioxidant activity. It emphasizes the working principle, methodology, advantages, and disadvantages of different methods. The determination of antioxidant activity could not only follow one single approach due to the diversity of antioxidant mode of actions. Therefore, the choices of the appropriate method of analysis need to be considered to achieve the purpose of the research.

The increasing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance and the persistent challenge of infectious diseases highlight the critical necessity for novel approaches that integrate pathogen management with swift detection methods. Carbon dots (CDs) are a versatile class of fluorescent nanomaterials that have garnered increasing attention owing to their tunable surface chemistry, strong photoluminescence, high stability, and biocompatibility. Recent studies demonstrate that CDs possess broad-spectrum antibacterial and antifungal activities via multiple mechanisms, including the generation of reactive oxygen species, disruption of membranes, inhibition of biofilms, and synergistic interactions with conventional antimicrobials. The performance is significantly affected by precursor selection, heteroatom doping, and surface functionalization, with minimum inhibitory concentrations reported to range from highly potent at the microgram level to moderate at elevated concentrations. The intrinsic fluorescence of CDs, in addition to their antimicrobial activity, facilitates their use as sensitive and selective probes for microbial detection, allowing for rapid and real-time monitoring in biomedical, food safety, and environmental settings. This review summarizes recent advancements in the antimicrobial properties of carbon dots (CDs) and their fluorescence-based applications in microbial detection. It emphasizes their theranostic potential and future prospects as multifunctional nanomaterials for combating infectious diseases and ensuring microbial safety.

Plant-based milk has become a consumer interest in recent years due to the health-beneficial effect of the product. Red rice milk is one of the cereal-based milk that uses red rice (Oryza sativa L.) as the main ingredient that contains antioxidant activity. The utilization of red rice in Indonesia is very limited, only for replacing white rice. The potency of red rice to be developed as rice milk has been poorly studied about the antioxidant activity and proximate content in the red rice milk. In this research, red rice was used as the main ingredient. Proximate analysis and antioxidant analysis (DPPH and total phenolic content) were conducted on the red rice milk. This research aims to analyze the nutrients content in red rice milk and its antioxidant activity. Red rice milk contained 98.01% of water, 0.07% of ash, 0.13% of protein, 0.71% of fat, and 1.07% of carbohydrate. Red rice milk inhibited 53.37% of DPPH radical and contained total phenolic about 274.5 ppm. The result revealed the potential of red rice milk as a functional drink with antioxidants.

Ice cream is a type of sweetened frozen food, which use cow’s milk and sugar as main ingredients. Due to its high sugar and fat content, the excessive consumption of ice cream could contribute to the significant health impact, especially for those who suffer diabetes. Moreover, some people could not consume the ice cream because of its inability to digest the lactose content in cow’s milk in their body. In recent years, there is some great innovation to replace cow’s milk as the main ingredients of ice cream with other milk substitutes. In order to obtain the ice cream-like characteristic, several food additives are added to ice cream. The formulation of the ice cream and choosing the proper materials are the key factor to produce desirable ice cream. This manuscript summarized the development of ice cream products from different ingredients of milk substitutes that influence the overrun, viscosity, and melting resistance of the products.