Phytochemical Screening and Antioxidant Properties of Ficus Carica L. Leaves
Abstract
Ficus carica L. are well known to possess a number of bioactive substances such as flavonoids and phenolic acids which have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties. This study aimed to screen phytochemicals in the leaf and evaluate the antioxidant activities with different polarity extracts. The leaves of Ficus carica L. were obtained from Taman Herba in UniSZA Besut Campus, Terengganu. The leaves collected were dried under room temperature before grinded into powder. The leaf powder was then soaked in methanol at a ratio of 1:10 to obtain the crude extract and further extracted with solvent partitioning method to get hexane (HEX), dichloromethane (DCM) and methanol fractions. Total amount of phenolic and flavonoid were determined by total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) test. Antioxidant activities of the leaves extract from different fractions were determined using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS), and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP) assay. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) was performed to screen the chemical profile of fig leaves using mobile phase of hexane: ethyl acetate: acetic acid at ratio 7.8: 1.8: 0.4. In determination of TPC, the highest value of phenolic content obtained from MeOH crude (79.72 mg GAE/g) followed by DCM fraction (67.06 mg GAE/g), MeOH fraction (51.67 mg GAE/g) and Hexane fraction (48.27 mg GAE/g). For determination of flavonoid content, MeOH crude also possesses the highest value (77.13 mg QE/g) followed by Hexane fraction (70.33 mg QE/g), DCM fraction (52.13 mg QE/g) and MeOH fraction (31.81 mg QE/g). For all antioxidant test, MeOH fraction followed by MeOH crude obtained the highest percentage of inhibition (antioxidant activity) and possess lowest IC50 value as the percentage of inhibition exceed 50%. The evaluation of antioxidant properties using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), ABTS (2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)), and ferric ion-reducing assays indicates that Ficus carica Linn. leaves methanol crude and fraction extract possess significant antioxidant properties due to its ability to scavenge free radicals and reduce ferric ions. Screening of bioactive compounds in TLC profiling indicated presence of coumarin, flavonoids, terpenoids, saponins and phenols in the Ficus carica Linn. leaves extract in which methanol crude and methanol fraction reveal a diverse array of compounds. Screening of bioactive compounds and the assessment of antioxidant activities determined the polarity strength of solvent for extraction as well as enhancing the understanding of the therapeutic potential of Ficus carica leaves.
