Pigments extracted from Melastoma Malabathricum (Senduduk) fruits for possible application as a biological stain and cosmetic colourant

Melastoma malabathricum Linn is a shrub that belongs to the family Melastomataceae and a common plant with pigment that considered a potential replacement for synthetic dyes. The objective for this study is to explore a biological stain and cosmetic dye from extracted melastoma malabathricum. Fresh fruit of Melastoma malabathricum was collected at Jeli,Kelantan. Plant pigment from the fruit was extracted with ethanol and solvent was removed under reduced pressure. Purple pigment from fruit was extracted with ethanol and was used to stain epidermal cell of Allium cepa (onion) and human cheek cell.The plant pigment was also used to color glycerin soap. From the result, it had proved that pigment of Melastoma malabathricum was able to stain onion epidermal cell and human cheek cells with purple color. Glycerin soap incorporated with 5% (w/w). 2.5% (w/w) and 1.25% (w/w) of pigment was colored with blue color. However, the color was fading over time. In conclusion, this study was revealed that the pigment from fruit of Melastoma malabathricum can be used as a biological stain after a further development. However, Melastoma malabathricum was not able to be used as natural colorant for soap.