L-arginine Identification from Seeds Extract Using Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) for Anti-Cariogenic Applications

The ecological approach to caries prevention focuses on creating oral cavity conditions more immune to caries.  It is more important to make the host and environment, namely the oral cavity, more resistant to the initial caries process which begins with forming biofilms from caries bacteria. Exploration of natural materials is an option to find active ingredients that can prevent the formation of biofilms. L-arginine is one of the active ingredients that can inhibit the formation of bacterial biofilms commonly found in grains. L-arginine has been widely used as a component of toothpaste and other dentifrice products but has never been developed as a systemic caries prevention product. In this study, we examined the impact of daily consumed materials on oral health by focusing on three types of seeds: Pumpkin seeds (Cucurbita moschata), Soybean seeds (Glycine max), and Sesame seeds (Sesamum indicum). We used the UPLC (Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography) method to determine their L-Arginine content. The results showed that Pumpkin Seeds (Cucurbita moschata) had the highest L-Arginine content, with a 100% extract concentration of 2884.47 mg or 0.29%. Notably, there was no observed correlation between extract concentration and L-Arginine content in Pumpkin and Soybean seeds. However, there was a directly proportional increase between extract concentration and L-Arginine content in Sesame seeds. In addition, the average retention time for L-Arginine was found to be 6 minutes and 24 seconds very close to another amino acid, namely L-serine.

L-arginine Identification from Seeds Extract Using Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) for Anti-Cariogenic Applications Keywords:

L-arginine Identification , Seeds extract , UPLC method , Anticariogenic compound