The Effectiveness of Red Spinach Extract Ointment (Amaranthus tricolor L.) against Healing Second Degree Burns in Wistar Rat

Burns are a common disease with a high risk of death, where burns are defined as damage to the body surface caused by heat, chemicals, electricity, sunlight, or radiation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the burn healing activity of red spinach methanol extract. Red spinach was extracted by maceration using methanol as the solvent. Then the extract was analyzed by Spectrophotometry UV-Vis to determine the total phenolic, tannin, and flavonoid content. After that, the extract was formulated into an ointment and given into three different experimental groups, viz. 5%, 10%, and 20% of red spinach groups. Furthermore, these groups were compared to control (ointment base) and standard (Mebo®) groups. This study showed that the total phenol, tannin, and flavonoid content of red spinach were 20.22 GAE mg/gram extract, 0.09 QE mg/gram extract, and 20.83 TAE mg/gram extract, respectively. Meanwhile, the animal trial showed that wound contraction significantly increased on day 12 (P-value = 0.001); the highest wound contraction was shown by the standard group, followed by the 10%, 7.5%, and 5% of red spinach groups. However, the epithelialization period was not showed significant improvement (P-value = 0.292). It can be concluded that the red spinach methanol extract had a potential burns healing activity.