The Effect of Drought Stress on Growth and Total Flavonoid Content of Tabat Barito Plant (Ficus deltoidea Jack)

Abstract
This research aimed to evaluate the effects of drought stress on growth and the total flavonoid content of tabat barito plant (Ficus deltoidea Jack). The experiment was conducted in the greenhouse Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Mulawarman University, using a completely randomized design consisted of 4 levels drought stress including 100%, 80%, 60%, and 40% field capacity. The F. deltoidea maintained for 9 months old and investigated for the growth parameter (plant height, leaf number, leaf area, the number of branches, stem diameter, and biomass), phytochemical screening, and the total flavonoid content. Drought stress has a significant effect on plant height, the number of branches, stem diameter and biomass. Based on the phytochemical screening, leaf extract of F. deltoidea contained alkaloids, phenolics, flavonoids, steroids, and coumarins. The highest total flavonoid content observed under 40% field capacity (430.77 μg CE mg-1 extract) and the lowest total flavonoid content observed under 100% field capacity (282.05 μg CE mg-1 extract). In general, this results showed that the drought stress motivated a significantly decreased of growth and significantly increased of total flavonoid content of leaves extract. Keywords: cultivation, drought stress, flavonoid, tabat barito (Ficus deltoidea) ABSTRAK Penelitian ini bertujuan mengetahui pengaruh perlakuan cekaman kekeringan terhadap pertumbuhan dan kadar flavonoid total tumbuhan tabat barito. Penelitian dilakukan di rumah kaca Laboratorium Fisiologi Tumbuhan, Fakultas Matematika dan Ilmu Pengetahuan Alam, Universitas Mulawarman, menggunakan rancangan acak lengkap yang terdiri dari 4 perlakuan kapasitas lapang air (KL) yaitu: KL 100%, KL 80%, KL 60% dan KL 40%. Setelah tanaman berumur 9 bulan dilakukan pengamatan terhadap peubah pertumbuhan (tinggi tanaman, jumlah daun, luas daun, jumlah cabang, diameter batang, biomassa). Perlakuan cekaman kekeringan berpengaruh nyata terhadap tinggi tanaman, jumlah cabang, diameter batang dan biomassa tanaman. Berdasarkan hasil uji fitokimia ekstrak daun tabat barito mengandung alkaloid, fenolik, flavonoid, steroid dan kumarin. Kadar total flavonoid ekstrak daun tertinggi dihasilkan pada perlakuan KL 40% sebesar 430.77 μg Catechin Equivalen (CE) mg-1 ekstrak daun dan berbeda nyata dengan perlakuan KL 100%, 80% dan 60%. Kadar flavonoid total terendah terdapat pada perlakuan KL 100% sebesar 282.05 μg CE mg-1 ekstrak. Secara umum, hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa perlakuan cekaman kekeringan secara nyata menghambat pertumbuhan dan meningkatkan kadar total flavonoid ekstrak daun tabat barito. Kata kunci: budidaya, cekaman kekeringan, flavonoid, tabat barito (Ficus deltoidea)