Project Description:

Indonesia’s bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts) are tremendous but yet neglected in regard to the study or exploration of their pharmacological activities. Since they are less studied and explored, there is a great potential in the discovery of new species of Indonesia’s bryophytes, elucidation of their benefits in improving human health and prospects of discovering novel drug raw materials. This research aims to conduct molecular identification of several bryophytes species and to screen pharmacological activities of bryophytes obtained from Cibodas Botanical Garden. The pharmacological activities are including but not limited to anti-cancer and anti-microbial activities. There are 5 species of bryophytes used in this research sampled from 2 different classes, Mosses: Campylopus umbellatus and Philonotis tjibodensis; and Liverworts: Marchantia polymorpha, Marchantia paleacea, and Symphyogyna similis. In addition, this research is planned to be conducted in 3 years. However, in the first year (2022), we will focus on these several research activities such as: (1) Creation of a prototype of standardized dry herbs and extracts; (2) Evaluation of the sequencing results for species confirmation; (3) Identification of phytochemical components; (4) In silico confirmation of pharmacological activity; and (5) In vitro confirmation of pharmacological activity. By the end of year 3 (2024), we aim to have a possible new drug application (Obat Herbal Terstandar or standardized herbal medicine).