Antioxidant, Antifungal Activities of Ethnobotanical Ficus hirta Vahl. and Analysis of Main Constituents by HPLC-MS

Abstract

The medicinal and edible plant, Ficus hirta Vahl. (also called hairy fig), is used for the treatment of constipation, inflammation, postpartum hypogalactia, tumors, and cancer. There is an urgent need for scientific evaluation to verify the pharmacological properties of F. hirta. Therefore, in vitro assays evaluated the antioxidant and antifungal activities of various solvent extracts of hairy fig fruits (HFF). HFF extracts had abundant antioxidant components for a significant amount of total phenolic (TPC) and flavonoid contents (TFC) (TPC from 17.75 ± 0.52 to 85.25 ± 1.72 mg gallic acid/g dw and TFC from 15.80 ± 0.59 to 144.22 ± 8.46 mg rutin/g dw, respectively). The ethyl acetate extract (EAE) and acetone extract (AE) of HFF demonstrated potent antioxidant activities against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) (IC50 values of 2.52 and 2.02 mg/mL, respectively) and ABTS radicals (IC50 values of 3.06 and 9.26 mg/mL, respectively). Moreover, the AE with a high TFC showed a prominent in vitro and in vivo antifungal activity against Penicillium italicum, causing citrus blue mold. Eighteen metabolites were identified or putatively identified from six HFF extracts. Current findings indicated that HFF extracts had significant antioxidant and antifungal activities and could potentially be used as an alternative agent for the preservation of agricultural products.

Exploring the potential of using bioactive plant products in the management of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. albedinis: the causal agent of Bayoud disease on date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.)

“…There is a general consensus that the antifungal effect of plants might be associated with their content of secondary metabolites. Our results are in line with previous findings as plant antifungal activity was moderately to strongly correlated with phenolic and flavonoid contents (R 2 ≥ 0.527) [30,31]. In fact, E. torquata and C. atlantica that showed the greatest concentrations of polyphenols and flavonoids induced the strongest inhibition effects.…”

Pinocembrin-7-Glucoside (P7G) Reduced Postharvest Blue Mold of Navel Orange by Suppressing Penicillium italicum Growth

“…Among plant extracts, Ficus hirta Vahl. fruit is a common medicine and food that is widely distributed in southern China, and has gained a great deal of attention as an alternative antifungal agent due to its antifungal and antioxidant capacity owing to its high flavonoid content [18,23,31]. In our previous study, we confirmed that P7G isolated from F. hirta Vahl.…”

“…The effects of P7G on lesion diameter and disease severity in navel oranges were determined following the method previously described with slight modifications [30,31]. The sterilized navel oranges were wounded (4 mm diameter and 2-mm deep) using a sterile puncher at the equatorial side on each fruit, and then divided in five randomized groups for various P7G treatment levels (0, 1, 2, 4, and 8 g/L).…”

In Vitro Anticancer Potential of Berberis lycium Royle Extracts against Human Hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) Cells

“…Besides, we found the highest yield with water (≈236 mg) and the lowest (≈10 mg) with butanol. Our results in terms of yield and cytotoxic activity are justified as different nature of solvents extracted different amount and types of metabolites found in a plant, e.g., water extract usually is enriched in large polysaccharides, proteins, etc., and thus, it gives the highest yield [ 26 ], and other solvents extracted various amounts of berberine and other cytotoxic alkaloids/phenolic compounds which is why they exhibited different activity ranges and IC 50 values [ 12 ]. Current findings are supported by the highest amount of berberine and phenolic compounds in a BLE extract as indicated in Table 2 as well as approved by previous studies on other types of cancer cells [ 12 ].…”