Indonesian indigenous plants as a source of antioxidants to treat gastrointestinal disorders

Gastrointestinal disorders are the most common illnesses that affect people nowadays. Itsprevalence and incidence have increased over the last decades. The majority of the peoplein Indonesia are still using indigenous plants as medicine to treat these infections ordiseases. This study was aimed to determine the potential of Indonesian indigenous plantsin treating gastrointestinal disorders. The plants were inventoried through searchingarticles such as Google Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect and Indonesian medicinal plantsbooks. The keyword search term used was “gastrointestinal,” “Indonesian,” “medicinalplants,” “antioxidant activity,” and “phenolic compound,”. A total of fifty-one species ofindigenous Indonesian plants of 32 families were recorded as being used by theIndonesian population to treat gastrointestinal disorders. Gastrointestinal disorders thatheavily utilize indigenous plants are diarrhoea, constipation, gastric ulcer and gastritis.Indonesian indigenous plants containing bioactive compounds such as alkaloids,flavonoids, saponins, tannins, steroids, terpenoids and phenolics that can serve as a sourceof antioxidants to treat gastrointestinal disorders. There were five Indonesian indigenousplants with the most potential as a source of antioxidants to cope with gastrointestinaldisorders: Zingiber officinale L, Annona muricata, Phyllanthus niruri, Curcuma longa andCurcuma xanthorrizha.