ATOM INDONESIA JOURNAL Referee’s Report
Article No. : # 425
Title of Paper : The Effect of Gamma Radiation on Microbial Content and Curcuminoids of Curcuma mango Val and Zijp Rhizome
Referee Name :
Comment on Descriptions 1. Title
[x] Appropriate [ ] Should be changed
2. Abstract
Yes[x] No[ ] Is the length reasonable?
Yes[x] No[ ] Is it an appropriate summary of the content?
3. Main Text
Yes[x] No[ ] Is there anything new in this work?
Yes[ ] No[x] Is the relation to previous studies adequately stated? (need more current references) Yes[x] No[ ] Are the assumption(s) and/or method(s) described comprehensively?
Yes[x] No[ ] Are the new results adequately emphasized?
Line # Referee’s Comments
12
Microbial contamination in the rhizomes of medicinal plants including Curcuma mango rhizomes is generally high. This due to the fact that the rhizomes are the bottom parts that placed grow in the soil. Based on the Indonesian Regulatory Agency of Drug and Food of the Republic of Indonesia Number HK.00.06.1.52.4011 the limits of microbial contamination in herbal/medicinal plants is 106 for the total microbial and 2 x 104 for the total yeast and mold. Gamma radiation is one of the methods in medicinal plants to reduce microbial contamination. In this research, gamma irradiation was applied to the C.mango rhizomes with at a doses of 5 and 10 kGy to determine the effectiveness of microbial reduction and curcuminoid contain. The initial contamination in this rhizome was 8.78 x 107cfu/g and 5 x 101cfu/g for the total mould and yeast, respectively. The result indicates that the microbial contaminations were reduced from 1.39 x 104, and 2.47 x 103cfu/g to become 1.39 x 104, and 2.47 x 103cfu/g reduction in the microbial content of 5 and 10 kGy dose may reduce microbial 1.39 x 104, and 2.47 x 103cfu/g respectively, for the mould and yeast contamination. Meanwhile the comparison of curcuminoids between the irradiated and non irradiated samples was performed by HPLC method. It can be concluded that an irradiation dose of 5 kGy is effective to reduce the content of microorganisms without lowering curcuminoids. Gamma radiation could be used as decontamination method in medicinal plants.
16-19 This claim requires a reference or two 22 …is not explored yet…
27 ….might happen because….
32-33 Please replace The National Agency of Drug and Food Control Indonesia (NA-DFC) with The Indonesian National Agency of Drug and Food Control Indonesia (NA-DFC)
37 ….should not exceed than 2 x 104 cfu/g
42 ……reduced until reach to the level below the requirement required value.
47 …higher than required the requirement,…..
49 …allowable permissible level of….
51 ….methods….
53 …..Several advantages of irradiation technique…
54 ……to the other decontamination techniques are due to the fact that it is fast ……….
68 ….When C. mango is irradiated…..
70-71 ……compounds in the C. mango which might be alter the characteristics……
87 …..Rhizomes of Curcuma mango (Family Zingiberaceae) were..…
99 Please indicate explicitly how much the C. Mango rhizome weighs!
109 ….Preparation of Stock Solution…
111 Which part of the method is modified in this experiment? Please state the modified part explicitly!
120 ….Microbes are still high…
147 …macerated for 4 times….
163 ….value is exeeds…
164 …..that is allowed by….
165 …..rhizome is might be….
166- 171
The high bioburden of C. mango rhizome is might be due to the fact that rhizome is part of curcuma plant which is available in the soil. The high bioburden occurs since rhizomes are the parts under soil where soil generally contains a lot of microbes.
176- 181
The result of this study reveals that gamma rays could reduce microbial load significantly proportional to the dose delivered. The irradiation doses of 5 and 10 kGy reduce the microbial contamination to becomes 1.39 x104, and 2.47 x181 103cfu/g, respectively.
195- 196
was is effective to reduced total count of yeast and mould, so it complies with the NA-DFC requirements.
199- 201
In this study, we analyzed quantitatively the curcuminoids content of C.mango after exposing it to gamma rays with doses of 5 and 10 kGy
202 ….the unirradiated one once.
203- 204
From the HPLC analysis results, it was found considered that curcuminoid compounds on C.mango consisted of ……
213-
214 The figure 4 caption is not necessary here! Please remove it.
218 Please use point (.) instead of comma (,) for decimal values! For example 0.26 instead of 0,26
220- 242
From Table 1. It seems that there is an increase in the increasing of total curcuminoids at irradiation dose of 5 kGy. Dhanya et al. (2011) reported that curcuminoids of turmeric
(Curcuma longa) was slighly increased by gamma irradiation at a dose of 5 kGy due to radiation induced damage of to the cell membrane [15]. The increasing number of curcuminoids, especially DTC of Curcuma mango by radiation is beneficial has an advantage because DTC is an efficient antioxidant, as it was also reported by Kim et al (2001) [16]. Increasing of the irradiation dose further to 10 kGy showed result in the reduction in of the curcuminoids. Other studies by J.K. Kim et al reported that irradiation of Curcuma aromatic and Curcuma longa with at higher doses of 15 and 30 kGy, significantly reduced the contents of curcuminoids in Curcuma aromatic and Curcuma longa compared to unirradiated ones [8]. Another study reported that Curcuma domestica irradiated with at a dose of 10 kGy-irradiated reduced the curcuminoids content by 0.6% from non-irradiated samples [17]. From our study, it can be considered that irradiation dose of 5 kGy is the most effective dose for Curcuma mango.
247 Gamma irradiation with at dose of 5 kGy was is….
Final comments and recommendations:
1. While the paper content is appropriate to be published in AIJ, the number of current references is lacking. Thus the referee suggests the authors to add at least 7 more current references (published between 2010 and 2015), otherwise the paper maybe rejected for publication in AIJ. As a result, the authors should put more texts in the introduction and/or discussion sessions with respect to the added references.
2. Based on Table 1, the authors do not discuss the reasons why increasing the gamma irradiation dose to 5 kGy results in the increase of the curcuminoid percentage. Moreover when the dose is increased to 10 kGy the curcuminoid percentage drops to the value which is exactly the same as when the sample is not irradiated (0.26%). Please explain in the texts why this phenomenon occurs this way, or why 5 kGy is the optimum dose. How does the irradiation dose relate to the number of curcuminoids?
This paper is recommended to be [ ] Accepted without further revision [ ] Accepted with minor revision [x] Major Revision is required [ ] Rejected
