Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity of Ficus carica Linn. leaves.

Ficus carica Linn. (Moraceae) is commonly known as edible fig. The leaves, roots, fruits and latex of the plant are medicinally used in different diseases. The leaves are claimed to be effective in various inflammatory conditions like painful or swollen piles, insect sting and bites. However, there has been no report on anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity of F. carica leaves. Therefore the aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity of F. carica leaves. Our study validated the traditional claim with pharmacological data. Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity of the drug could be due to the presence of steroids and flavanoids, respectively, which are reported to be present in the drug. Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory activity of the drug could be due to its free radical scavenging activity. Further work is also required to isolate and characterise the active constituents responsible for the anti-inflammatory activities.

High-performance thin layer chromatographic quantification of bioactive psoralen and daidzein in leaves of Ficus carica L.

This study was undertaken to quantify psoralen and daidzein by high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). The methanolic extract of 10 mg mL(-1) concentration solution was prepared for HPTLC quantification of psoralen and daidzein. HPTLC aluminium-backed plates coated with 0.2 mm layers of silica gel 60 F(254) were used as the stationary phase. The working standard solution of psoralen and daidzein was applied along with the test sample solution by means of Camag Linomat IV sample applicator. R (f) values of psoralen and daidzein were found to be 0.60 and 0.88, whilst as their percentage values in methanolic extract were found to be 3.02% and 5.64% (w/w), respectively. A simple quantitative estimation method of psoralen and daidzein by HPTLC is reported that can be used for the quality control of marketed preparations containing Ficus carica. However, further study is warranted to isolate and quantify active constituents present in the leaves of F. carica by sophisticated techniques.