Clinacanthus nutans (C. nutans) or locally known as belalai gajah is a folk medicine since ancient time. This research project was established to investigate the effects of under sun drying on the C. nutans bioactive constituent. The drying experiments were conducted using different drying surfaces i.e. perforated, black polythene and white polythene. The fresh and dried leaves were then extracted using a sonicator to evaluate its bioactive constituent. The total phenolic content (TPC) in the C. nutans extracts were determined using Follin Ciocalteu reagent method to represent the bioactive constituent. Drying over the white polythene surface showed the slowest reduction of moisture content as compared to the perforated polythene and black surfaces. Results also showed no significant effect of the drying surfaces on the TPC. However, the TPC in the dried leaves was significantly higher than in the fresh leaves. This may be due to the plant cells response to abiotic stress and the inhibition of oxidation enzymes. Therefore, drying C. nutanc leaves under sun light could be considered in order to preserve the concentration of phenolic compounds and for minimizing energy consumption.
