Ficus deltoidea

About: Ficus deltoidea is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 190 publications have been published within this topic receiving 2189 citations.

Identification of proanthocyanidin dimers and trimers, flavone C-Glycosides, and antioxidants in Ficus deltoidea , a malaysian herbal tea.

Abstract: Phenolic compounds in an aqueous infusion of leaves of Ficus deltoidea (Moraceae), a well-known herbal tea in Malaysia, were analyzed by HPLC coupled to photodiode array and fluorescence detectors and an electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometer. Following chromatography of extracts on a reversed phase C12 column, 25 flavonoids were characterized and/or tentatively identified with the main constituents being flavan-3-ol monomers, proanthocyanidins, and C-linked flavone glycosides. The proanthocyanidins were dimers and trimers comprising (epi)catechin and (epi)afzelechin units. No higher molecular weight proanthocyanidin polymers were detected. The antioxidant activity of F. deltoidea extract was analyzed using HPLC with online antioxidant detection. This revealed that 85% of the total antioxidant activity of the aqueous F. deltoidea infusion was attributable to the flavan-3-ol monomers and the proanthocyanidins.

Non enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidant activities in aqueous extract of different Ficus deltoidea accessions

Abstract: Ficus deltoidea was used in this study due to its reputation in reducing risk of cancer, diabetes and heart diseases. In this study 13 accessions of F. deltoideawere selected and they were divided into two groups, generally named as, female and male plants based on leaf sizes and the spots present. The signature of F. deltoidea is that this plant has black spots representing the female leaf while red spots for the male leaf. For non enzymatic antioxidants, several methods were used, they were 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazil (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay for total antioxidant content. In addition, total polyphenol, flavonoid, phenolic acid and vitamin C content were also analyzed. Enzymatic antioxidants of F. deltoidea leaf extracts were assayed; ascorbate oxidase, peroxidase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase. For DPPH assay, F1 has 99.87% of inhibition while the lowest is in M10 (32.86 %). F13 has the highest total percentage of antioxidant for FRAP method and the lowest is in M4. Total polyphenol content showed F13 has the highest (1.30 mg/g FW) and M10 the lowest (0.49 mg/g FW). Similar trend was observed for total phenolic acid and flavonoid content. For both assays, F1 has the highest content while M10 is the lowest. For total vitamin C content, F8 and F7 have the highest and lowest content with 6.78 and 0.61 mg/g FW, respectively. Ascorbate oxidase, peroxidase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase were calculated using respective coefficient extinction and expressed as mg/g FW protein content. This study suggested that the extracts of the female leaves are better than male leaves in most of the assays. This is the first documented report on the antioxidants of F. deltoidea. Key words: Ficus deltoidea, antioxidant, enzymatic, non-enzymatic, aqueous extracts.

Antidiabetic and antioxidant properties of Ficus deltoidea fruit extracts and fractions

Abstract: Diabetes is a serious metabolic disorder affecting the metabolism of carbohydrate, protein and fat. A number of studies have shown that diabetes mellitus is associated with oxidative stress, leading to an increased production of reactive oxygen species. Ficus deltoidea is traditionally used in Malaysia for regulating blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels. The use of F. deltoidea as an alternative medicinal herb is increasingly gaining popularity with the sale of F. deltoidea tea bags and capsules in the local market. The present study was undertaken to investigate the antidiabetic and antioxidant activities of the fruits from different varieties of F. deltoidea, employing in vitro methods. Two fruit varieties of F. deltoidea (var. angustifolia (SF) and var. kunstleri (BF)) were extracted separately using double-distilled water. The resulting aqueous extracts were partitioned using ethyl acetate to obtain the ethyl acetate and water fractions. The crude aqueous extracts and the corresponding fractions were evaluated for their phenolic, flavonoid, sugar and protein contents. Protein profiling of the extracts and fractions were also carried out by means of SDS-PAGE and SELDI-TOF MS. Antidiabetic activities were assessed based on the ability of the samples to inhibit yeast and mammalian α-glucosidase as well as α-amylase. Antioxidant capacities were examined by measuring the ability of the samples to reduce ferric ions and to scavenge DPPH, superoxide anion, ABTS and nitric oxide radicals. The crude extracts and fractions of SF and BF inhibited both yeast and rat intestinal α-glucosidases in a dose-dependent manner, but did not inhibit porcine pancreatic α-amylase. The water fraction of BF showed the highest percentage of α-glucosidase inhibition while having the highest amount of protein (73.33 ± 4.99 μg/mg fraction). All the extracts and fractions exhibited antioxidant activities, with SF crude extract showing the highest antioxidant activity and phenolic content (121.62 ± 4.86 mg/g extract). Fractionation of the crude extracts resulted in loss of antioxidant activities. There was no positive correlation between phenolic and flavonoid content with α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. However, phenolic content correlated well with antioxidant activities of the crude extracts but not with the fractions. The antioxidant activities of the fruits of F. deltoidea might be asserted by the phenolic content but other polar plant components were possibly involved in the antidiabetic properties. The study of these compounds having both antihyperglycemic and antioxidant activities may provide a new approach in the treatment of diabetes mellitus.