International Journal of PharmTech Research

CODEN (USA): IJPRIF ISSN : 0974-4304

Vol. 3, No.1, pp 08-12, Jan-Mar 2011

Pharmacognostic and phytochemical

properties of Ficus carica Linn An overview
Baby Joseph, S.Justin Raj*
Interdisciplinary Research Unit, Departmentof Biotechnology, Malankara Catholic
College, Mariagiri, K.K District,India

Corres. author: [email protected],Ph: 9751358502

Abstract: Ficus carica grows in tropical and subtropical regions of India, it is used in indigenious system of
medicine like ayurveda, siddha, unani and homoeopathy. Different biologically active compounds were isolated form
this plant. The barks, leaves,fruits are considered to be very effective in various treatments, such as diabetes, skin
diseases, ulcers, dysentry, diarrohoea, stomachache, piles . Latex is widely used for warts, skin ulcers and sores, and
taken as a purgative and vermifuge. The present review is therefore, an effort to give a detailed survey of the literature
on its Pharamacognosy, phytochemistry, and traditional properties.
Key words: pharmacognosy , antioxidant, hypoglycemic, anaemic , fucosterol, flavonoids, Ficus carica.

Introduction: figs produced a significant increase in plasma

Ficus constituted one of the largest genera of antioxidant capacity6 and also used in various
medicinal plants with about 750 species of woody disorders such as gastrointestinal respiratory,
plants, trees, and shrubs primarily occurring in inflammatory ,cardiovascular disorders, ulcerative
subtropical and tropical regions through out the world. diseases, and cancers7-10. In traditional medicine the
The genus is remarkable for the large variation in the roots are used in treatment of leucoderma and
habits of its species1. In India, the most important ringworms and its fruits which are sweet, have
species of Ficus are F. bengalensis, F. carica, Ficus antipyretic, purgative, aphrodisiac properties and have
racemosa and F. elastica. Ficus carica is commonly shown to be useful in inflammations and paralysis 11,12.
referred as Fig". Various parts of the plant like bark, F. carica has been reported to include antioxidant,
leaves, tender shoots, fruits, seeds, and latex are antiviral, antibacterial, hypoglycemic, cancer
medicinally important. The fig is a very nourishing suppressive, hypotriglyceridaemic, and anthelmintic
food and used in industrial products. It is rich in effects 13-15. This study was aimed to present an
vitamins, mineral elements, water, and fats. Figs are overview of traditional, phytochemical and
one of the highest plant sources of calcium and fiber. pharmacological investigations of bioactive
According to USDA data for the Mission variety, dried compounds present in this plant.
figs are richest in fiber, copper, manganese, Taxonomy:
magnesium, potassium, calcium, and vitamin K, Kingdom : Plantae
relative to human needs. They have smaller amounts of Division : Magnoliophyta
many other nutrients. Figs have a laxative effect and Class : Magnolipsida
contain many antioxidants. They are good source of Order : Rosales
flavonoids and polyphenols2. and some bioactive Family : Moraceae
compounds such as arabinose, -amyrins, - carotines, Genus : Ficus
glycosides, -setosterols and xanthotoxol 3-5. The dried Species : F. carica
S.Justin Raj et al /Int.J. PharmTech Res.2011,3(1) 9

Chemical composition:
Stem: campesterol, hentriacontanol, , stigmasterol,
euphorbol and its hexacosanate, ingenol and
taraxerone.
Leaves: moisture, 67.6%; protein, 4.3%; fat, 1.7%;
crude fiber, 4.7%; ash, 5.3%; N-free extract, 16.4%;
pentosans, 3.6%; carotene , bergaptene, stigmasterol,
sitosterol, and tyrosine. Ficusin, taraxasterol, beta-
sitosterol, rutin ,sapogenin, Calotropenyl acetate,
lepeolacetate and oleanolic
Latex: caoutchouc (2.4%), resin, albumin, cerin, sugar
and malic acid, rennin, proteolytic enzymes, diastase,
esterase, lipase, catalase, and peroxidase.
Seed: Dried seeds contain 30% of a fixed oil
containing the fatty acids: oleic, 18.99%; linoleic,
33.72%; linolenic, 32.95%; palmitic, 5.23%; stearic,
Ficus carica
2.1 8%; arachidic, 1.05%. It is an edible oil and can be
used as a lubricant.
Habit and habitat:
The fig grows well in mediterranean and dryer warm-
Traditional uses:
temperate climates. The fig is a deciduous tree, to 50 ft The fig is one of the earliest fruit trees cultivated by
primitive man. Figs are having a definite laxative
tall, but more typically to a height of 10 - 30 ft. The
effect and a high alkalinity of ash. The laxative effect
large, wavy-margined leaves are usually 5 lobed but
may have only 4 or 3 lobes. The leaves are is probably due to the bulk of seeds and fibre
combined with some specific solvent present in the
conspicuously palmately veined. Their branches are
juice. In Mediterranean countries, the fig is so widely
muscular and twisting, spreading wider than they are
used both fresh and dried that it is called the poor
tall. Fig wood is weak and decays rapidly. The trunk
often bears large nodal tumors, where branches have mans food Sushruta included the fruit in a medicated
clarified better for internal use in fever, consumption ,
been shed or removed. The twigs are terete and pithy
asthmaand epilepsy. The fruit juice with honey is used
rather than woody. The sap contains copious milky
latex. to check haemorrhagia. In unani medicine anjeer is
used as a mild laxative, expectorant and diuretic.
Anjeer is used for the diseases in liver and spleen. The
dry fruits of anjeer is a supplement food for diabetics.
Sweets in the markets with sugar free for diabetics
Morphological characters: contain ficus carica . the paste of fruit is applied in
swellings, tumours and inflammation for relieving
Bark: The bark is a smooth and silvery gray.
pain. Figs provide minerals , calcium and phosphorus;
Leaves : Fig leaves are bright green, single, alternate
dried figs are also high in iron. The figs are astrigent
and large (to 1 ft length). They are more or less deeply
and carminative; the dried figs are given in doses of
lobed with 1 - 5 sinuses, rough hairy on the upper
150 gram with honey in menorrhagia, hepatitis and
surface and soft hairy on the underside.
dysentery; the figs are very useful in diabetes; A
Flowers: The tiny flowers of the fig are out of sight,
decoction of dried figs is an excellent mouthwash for
clustered inside the green "fruits", technically a
sore throat and aphthous complaints of the mouth. Boil
synconium. Pollinating insects gain access to the
figs in water to get a decoction and used twice a day
flowers through an opening at the apex of the
to set right urinary disorders and to melt small stones.
synconium.
Boil the bark of fig in water along with neem, mango
Fruits: The matured "fruit" has a tough peel (pure
and peepal barks, this decoction is very useful to wash
green, green suffused with brown, brown or purple),
and soothe ulcers caused by burns. Intaking dry fig
often cracking upon ripeness, and exposing the pulp
fruit everyday to build body resistance and for natural
beneath. The interior is a white inner rind containing a
daily requirement of vitamins. Due to the iron-rich
seed mass bound with jelly-like flesh.
content of fig, it is ideal to include it in one's diet in
Seeds: Seeds may be large, medium, small or minute
anaemic condition. The burnt ash of the fig fruit is
and range in number from 30 to 1,600 per fruit. The
highly basic in nature and can be consumed a tsp
edible seeds are numerous and generally hollow,
before meals to counter hyperacidity. The enzyme
unless pollinated. Pollinated seeds provide the
ficin present in the fig latex is responsible for its
characteristic nutty taste of dried figs.
S.Justin Raj et al /Int.J. PharmTech Res.2011,3(1) 10

anthelmintic activity and can be given with great supplement to modulate TG and TC secretion in
benefit in worm infestations especially ascaris and poultry liver.
tricharus types. Figs are a good source of potassium, a
mineral that helps to control blood pressure.The fig Anticancer activity:
leaves are added to boiling water and used as a steam Bio active compounds like 6-O-acyl--d-glucosyl--
bath for painful or swollen piles.The leaf decoction is sitosterols, the acyl moeity being primarily palmitoyl
taken as a remedy for diabetes and calcifications in the and linoleyl with minor amounts of stearyl and oleyl,
kidneys and liver.The milky juice of the freshly- has been isolated as a potent cytotoxic agent from fig
broken stalk of a fig has been found to remove warts (Ficus carica) latex. Both the natural and the synthetic
on the body. compounds showed in vitro inhibitory effects on
proliferation of various cancer cell lines.
Phytochemical properties:
F. carica have numerous bioactive compounds such Antioxidant activity:
as Mucilages, flavinoids, vitamins, enzymes, nicotinic The potential health-promoting constituents of fig
acid, and tyrosin. Ficusin, bergaptene, stigmasterol, fruits were studied with six commercial fig varieties
psoralen, taraxasterol, beta-sitosterol, rutin ,sapogenin, differing in color (black, red, yellow, and green) were
Calotropenyl acetate, lepeolacetate and oleanolic acid analyzed for total polyphenols, total flavonoids,
sistosterol are present in the leaf. The plant also antioxidant capacity, and profile of anthocyanins. In
contains arabinose, -amyrins, - carotines, glycosides, the dark-colored mission and the red Brown-Turkey
-setosterols and xanthotoxol16-18. Umbelliferone19,20, varieties, the anthocyanin fraction contributed 36 and
campesterol, , fucosterol, fatty acids 21, 6-(2- methoxy- 28% of the total antioxidant capacity, C3R (cyanidin-
Z-vinyl)-7-methyl-pyranocoumarin and 9,19- 3-O-rutinoside) contributed 92% of the total
cycloarlane triterpenoid as an anticancer22 and 6-O- antioxidant capacity of the anthocyanin fraction. Fruits
acyl--Dglucosyl --sitosterol 23, calotropenyl acetate, of the mission variety contained the highest levels of
and lupeol acetate 24as an antiproliferative agent. polyphenols, flavonoids, and anthocyanins and
exhibited the highest antioxidant capacity.

Phytopharmacological properties25-33: Scavenging activity and immune response:

The water extract (WE) and crude hot-water soluble
Hepatoprotective activity: polysaccharide (PS) from Ficus carica L. fruit were
Significant reversal of biochemical, histological and investigated for scavenging abilities on DPPH,
functional changes where induced by petroleum ether superoxide and hydroxyl radicals and reducing power.
extract treatment in rifampicin treated rats, indicating The immune activities of PS were evaluated using the
promising hepatoprotective activity . carbon clearance test and serum hemolysin analysis in
mice. Both WE and PS have scavenging activities on
Hypoglycemic activity: DPPH with the EC50 (0.72, 0.61) mg/ml, respectively.
The leaf extract induced a significant hypoglycaemic The PS showed higher scavenging activity than WE on
effect in oral or intraperitoneal administration in superoxide radical (EC50, 0.95 mg/ml) and hydroxyl
streptozotocin- diabetic rats . Weight loss was anion radical (scavenging rate 43.4% at 4 mg/ml). The
prevented in treated diabetic rats and the survival PS (500 mg/kg) also has a significant increase in the
index was significantly altered by plasma insulin clearance rate of carbon particles and serum hemolysin
levels. Results show that Ficus carica aqueous extract level of normal mice. This indicates the scavenging
has a clear hypoglycemic activity. activity and immune responses of the extract.

Hypolipedimic activity: Anti-pyretic activity:

Livers from 8-week-old roosters (n = 24) with high The ethanol extract of Ficus carica, at doses of 100,
abdominal fat pad ratios were extracted, sliced, and 200 and 300 mg/kg showed significant dose-dependent
cultured with increasing concentrations of leaf extract , reduction in normal body temperature and yeast-
insulin and both of them. While insulin significantly provoked elevated temperature. The effect extended up
increased TG secretion (0.190 0.013 mmol/l), TG to five hours after drug administration when compared
content (0.523 0.093 mmol/l) and TC secretion to that of Paracetamol (150 mg/kg.), a standard anti-
(1.727 0.412 mmol/l) above the basal level (P < pyretic agent. This shows the anti pyretic effect of
0.001), when leaf extract was added these effects were ethanol extract:
drastically reduced to the basal level in a concentration
dependent manner (P < 0.001). These results suggest
that Ficus carica leaf extract could be a beneficial
S.Justin Raj et al /Int.J. PharmTech Res.2011,3(1) 11

Antibacterial activity: concentration of 500g/ml and a negative effect

The methanol extract of (MICs, 0.156 to 5 mg/ml; against Cryptococcus neoformans. Microsporum canis
MBCs, 0.313 to 5 mg/ml) showed a strong was strongly inhibited with methanolic extract (75%)
antibacterial activity against oral bacteria. The and totally with ethyl acetate extract at a concentration
combination effects of methanol extract with of 750g/ml.
ampicillin or gentamicin were synergistic against oral
bacteria. It is proved that figs could act as a natural Conclusion:
antibacterial agent . The present study shows the pharmacognostic and
phytochemical properties of various bioactive
Anti fungal activity: compounds present in this plant. The antimicrobial
Methanolic, hexanoc, chloroformic and ethyl acetate activity of the extracts was evaluated based on the
extracts of Ficus carica latex were investigated for inhibition zone using the disc diffusion assay.
their invitro antimicrobial proprieties against five Among the various extracts the methanolic fraction
bacterial species and seven strains of fungi. The had a total inhibition against various microorganisms.
antimicrobial activity of the extracts was evaluated and The ethanol extract also showed significant dose-
based respectively on the inhibition zone using the disc dependent reduction in normal body temperature when
diffusion assay, minimal inhibition concentration compared to that of a standard anti-pyretic agent.
(MIC) for bacterial testing and the method by Further more Clinical and Pathological studies should
calculating inhibition percentage (I%) for fungi be conducted to isolate and characterize the bioactive
inhibiting activities.The methanolic fraction had a total components present in this plant.
inhibition against Candida albicans (100%) at a

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