Ficus Carica and Its Constituents Role in Management of Diseases

Abstract

Alternative medicines or formulation based on natural sources are good option in diseases cure and prevention. Ficus carica is member of Moraceae family and its health management properties have been mentioned in religious books and traditional medicines. It holds various constituents including phenolic compounds, minerals and vitamins and such ingredient shows role in disease cure. Studies based on in vivo and in vitro reported that figs fruits, stem, leaves, and latex have health management effect through antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effects, antimicrobial, anticarcinogenic, and anti-inflammatory effects. Moreover, an inverse correlation between figs use and development of disease has been noticed. Despite its implications in disease management, little is known about their mechanism of action. In this review, efforts are made based on in vivo and in vitro studies to illuminate the role of F. carica leaves and fruits in the prevention of diseases.

Physiological and biochemical studies on the protective effect of Ficus carica leaf extract, vitamin C or their combination on liver toxicity induced by lead acetate in male rats

“…In accordance, previous studies showed that pretreatment with Ficus carica leaf extract normalized the levels of TP, ALP and the level of total serum bilirubin 15,42 . Moreover, Ficus carica was highly successful in attenuating lead hepatotoxicity due to its high total phenol and flavonoid contents, suggested three mechanisms for this attenuation: first: lowering the oxidative stress, second: increasing the oxidant enzymes level and third: acting as chelating agent for lead ions 43,44 . The observation that vitamin C caused suppression of increased ALT and AST activities induced by administration of lead acetate might be attributed to its ability to ameliorate the lipid peroxidation through the free radicals scavenging activity and restoring the liver capability 45,46 .…”

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“…Leaves of figs are traditionally used in the management of diseases such as vitiligo, diabetes, coughs, asthma, constipation, and gingivitis. [4,5] Roots are used in the treatment of leukoderma and ringworms. [6,7] Fruits have antipyretic, purgative, aphrodisiac and properties and also have shown to be valuable in treating inflammations and diseases of blood.…”

“…The majority species of F. carica contain phenolic compounds, organic acids, and volatile compounds. [5,11,12] Fruits constitute valuable ingredients such as cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, cyanidin-3-Orhamnoglucoside, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium, insoluble sugars, protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, calcium, and iron. [13] Phytochemical analysis has confirmed that the aqueous extract of ripe dried fruit contain alkaloids, flavonoids, coumarins, saponins, and terpenes.…”

“…Mice fed with control diet without figs showed significant memory deficits, increased anxiety-related behavior, and motor coordination, memory and learning skills, compared to the wild-type control mice fed same diet, or Tg mice fed on 4% fig diet supplementation. [26] It also additional beneficial effects on suppressing inflammatory Table 1: Chief ingredients of Ficus carica [5]…”

Elucidating the structural, catalytic, and antibacterial traits of Ficus carica and Azadirachta indica leaf extract‐mediated synthesis of the Ag/CuO/rGO nanocomposite

“…Different green reducing agents have been used in the past such as the Colocasia esculenta leaf extract (Thakur & Karak, 2012), chrysanthemum extract (Hou et al, 2016), reducing sugars (Zhu et al, 2010), glucose (Qazzazie et al, 2015). This study involves the reduction of GO and synthesis of metal oxide using plant extract of Azaditrachta indica (Rahmani et al, 2018), Ficus carica (Rahmani & Aldebasi, 2017). Both these plants are rich source of polyphenols, flavonoids, and proteins; they play a key role in the reduction and stabilization, and behave as a capping agent during the synthesis process, which also eliminates the need for chemical‐based surfactant (Roy et al, 2017).…”