Innovative ideas continue to be a driving force for the academic community and will make Indonesia a developed country. It could even be a solution to problems faced by society, as was done by Undip Vocational Lecturer Mohamad Endy Yulianto. He and his team are currently developing cancer chemopreventives from natural ingredients. The results of his work during this semester (2024) have received six granted patents, five copyrights, and six publications in reputable international journals, said Endy. Endy conveyed that he had obtained granted patents, including no. IDS000007201 (Enzymatic Inactivation Process for Making Green Tea using a Cylindrical Dispersing Steamer), no. IDS000007235 (Method for Making Hesperidin from Lime Peel via Microwave Thermochemical Extraction), and Patent No. IDS000007413 (Method for Making Citrulline from Watermelon Peel via Microwave Extraction). Patent number IDS000007821 (Reactive Extraction of Gingerol into Ginger Shogaol using Subcritical Water), while number IDS000007561 with the invention of the Gaultherin Extraction Method from Gandapura Accompanied by Ultra Violet Light and number IDS000007969. Patent number IDS000007201 is currently being tested in the PPTK Pasir Sarongge Green Tea industry and market segmentation studies. The field of research and innovation produced by Endy, who is also the head of the UNDIP Vocational Industrial Chemical Engineering Technology (TRKI) study program, is process development, said Endy.
Endy also added that, currently, together with his team and industry partners, he is developing products for cancer chemoprevention using a combination of natural ingredients. These ingredients include the bioactive compound ginger shogaol, linamarin from cassava leaves, gathering from gandapura, lime peel hesperidin, and green tea epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). These bioactive compounds are encapsulated in a nano liposome emulsion liquid membrane to reach the intended target when using this drug. The development of this product was driven by concern about the prohibitive chemotherapy costs that people living with cancer in Indonesia have to bear. Apart from being expensive, 90 percent of the raw materials used to treat cancer patients must be imported. Therefore, together with the Prof. Team. Dr. Ari Yuniastuti, SPt, M.Kes, Dr. Eng Vita Paramita, ST, MM, M.Eng, Prof. Dr. Eflita Yohana, Hermawan Dwi Ariyanto, ST, M.Sc, Ph.D, and Dr. Indah Hartati is trying to develop innovative anti-cancer products, explained Endy.
Endy, who has published 71 reputable international papers indexed by Scopus, revealed that the crucial problem for preparing raw materials in the form of bioactive compounds linamarin and gaultherin lies in the difficulty in extracting them due to the enzymes linamarase and gaultherase in the leaf cytoplasm starting to become active when the tonoplast membrane is torn. Therefore, the simultaneous enzymatic extraction and inactivation technique can be referred to from the Research Team’s Patent with numbers IDS000006687 and IDS000007561. Meanwhile, the bioactive compound school can be obtained from the dehydration of ginger gingerol through subcritical water, which can be referenced from Patent no IDS000007821. Endy explained that for the commercialization of cancer drugs, the most critical aspects that must be passed include preclinical & clinical testing of nano products, adaptation testing and evaluation of the application of process units in partner industries, preparation of production scale test results documents, standardization and certification documents, technology transfer documents and technology audits.
Main Director Teguh Adhi Nugroho welcomed the initiation of collaboration between the Undip Vocational Team and PT. Naturindo Fresh Kulon Progo has received the Kalpataru award at the provincial level for managing herbal plant cultivation—even PT. Naturindo Fresh cultivates more than 182 types of herbal plants by empowering local communities and providing training to develop human resources from various educational backgrounds. “Hopefully, in the near future, we can commercialize the product in partner industries through commercial research so that the results of this research can be useful for society, especially people who are struggling to recover from cancer,” concluded Endy.