Abstract:

The current investigation was conducted on the stem bark extracts of Ficus benjamina and Ficus hispida. The plant parts were gathered, dried in the shade, ground and extracted using Soxhlet equipment for phytochemical, antioxidant, antimicrobial and GC-MS chemical profiling. In phytochemical analysis extracts were tested for carbohydrates, proteins and amino acids, flavonoids, tri terpenoids, alkaloids, cardiac glycosides, anthraquinone glycosides, saponins, tannins and phenolic compounds, fixed oils and fats. In-vitro antioxidant activity of the aqueous, acetone and methanol bark extracts of the two species of Ficus were investigated by DPPH assay. Results showed that the methanol bark extracts of the two Ficus species (F. benjamina and F. hispida) exhibited excellent antioxidant activities (at the conc. of 120μg/mL) and the IC50 value of the methanol extract of Ficus benjamina showed (26.38+1.02 µg/mL) higher antioxidant activity. Two bacterial strains were tested against the stem bark extract i.e., Gram-positive bacteria (S. aureus) and Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli) and two fungal strains (A. niger and S. cervisiae). These plant extracts showed excellent antimicrobial activities. The methanol extracts were analysed in this investigation using GC-MS analysis of Ficus benjamina and Ficus hispida will help to identify several chemical substances.

Description:

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