Phytochemical analysis and antioxidant study of methanolic extract of leaves of Ficus religiosa Linn.

AbstractFicus religiosa L. (Moraceae), commonly known as “Peepal” is an evergreen, perennial, ornamental tree. According to the Indian artand literature it can be said that the 'Tree of Life' of the Indian subcontinent. References to Ficus religiosa are found in severalancient holy texts like Artha sastra, Puranas, Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata. Ficus religiosa is endemic to the Asia-Tropicalregions with an average life ranging between 900–1,500 years. Traditionally, the leaves are used to treat sexual disorders, diarrhea,haematuria, toothache, migraine, eye troubles, gastric problems. Literature review suggests the presence of various phytoconstituentslike campesterol, α-amyrin, lupeol, tannic acid, n-nonacosane, 28-isofucosterol and sitosterol for anticancer, antioxidant, antidiabetic,antimicrobial, anticonvulsant, anthelmintic, antiulcer activity.Apart from this, diseases linked with oxidative stress, such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and respiratory issues, are on the rise maybe due to our irregular life style. These conditions may be treated using free radicals found in plants. The aim of the present study istherefore to determine in vitro antioxidant activity and also to ascertain the qualitative and quantitative estimation in the leavesextracts of Ficus religiosa Linn.The plant material after authentication was dried, Powdered, defatted with petroleum ether, extracted with chloroform to removechlorophyll and then finally with methanol as the solvent. Different qualitative and quantitative estimations including the totalalkaloid, flavonoid and Phenolic content were determined followed by antioxidant activity by DPPH radical scavenging method.Preliminary phytochemical studies confirmed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins and steroids. The total alkaloid content inthe methanolic extract was found to be 5.89 ± 1.07 mg./g. whereas total flavonoid and phenolic content were found to be 23.37 ±0.25 mg. QE/g. and 37.35 ± 0.33 mg. GAE/g. respectively. The IC50 values of the methanolic leaves extract of Ficus religiosa andascorbic acid were found to be 57.81 ± 0.33 μg/ml and 46.88 ± 0.53 μg/ml respectively. This shows that the methanolic leavesextract of Ficus religiosa Linn. possess strong antioxidant activity which is comparable with the standard ascorbic acid.