ABSTRACT
Anticonvulsant Ficus platyphylla stem bark, a saponin-rich fraction of methanol extract protected mice against pentylenetetrazole-and strychnine-induced seizures, and blocked sustained repetitive ring (SRF) and spontaneous action potential ring in neonatal rat brain slice model
Chindo et al. 2009
Antioxidant, hepatoprotective
Methanolic extract of Ficus glomerata was potently antioxidant and markedly reduced biochemical hepatic damage in carbon tetrachloride-treated rats
Channabasavaraj et al. 2008
Antioxidant, radioprotective
Ethanolic and water extracts of Ficus racemosa stem bark dose-dependently improved free radical scavenging in silico and reduced percentage of micronucleated binuclear cells, an index of genetic damage, in irradiated Chinese hamster lung broblasts
Veerapur et al. 2009
Antimicrobial Methanolic extracts of the stem bark of Ficus chlamydocarpa, Ficus cordata, a mixture of the two plants, and pure isolated stem bark avonoids alpinumisoavone, genistein, laburnetin, luteolin (from F. chlamydocarpa), and catechin and epiafzelechin (from F. cordata) were tested and found active against mycobacteria, fungi, Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria
Kuete et al. 2008
Antimicrobial Minimal inhibition concentrations of Ficus ovata stem bark methanolic extract, selected fractions and pure isolated compounds were found for Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and fungal pathogens, especially Streptococcus faecalis, Candida albicans and Microsporum audouinii, and Staphylococcus aureus
Kuete et al. 2009
Antiviral The stem bark of Ficus sycomorus was one of four medicinal plant parts from which an extract exhibited notable activity against human simplex virus in a panel of 50 medicinal Tanzanian plant parts from 39 plants tested against the virus and selected microbes
Maregesi et al. 2008
Mosquito larvicidal An acetone fraction of Ficus racemosa exerted potent toxic activity against early fourth-instar larvae of Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) and other mosquito species and yielded a unique tetracyclic triterpene, gluanol acetate, which was also potently larvicidal against several mosquito species
Rahuman et al. 2008
One small curiosity may lead to epochal ideas, especially when concerning fungi and fermentation. Recall the examples of penicillin, articial rubber, or LSD from ergot. In another case, a new alkaloid was discovered in a “fermentation broth of an unidentied endophytic fungus obtained from the bark of Ficus microcarpa L.” The alkaloid, dubbed “nomofungin” (Ratnayake et al. 2001), possesses a unique and novel natural chemical structure and the actions of disrupting microlaments in cultured mammalian cells and moderate cytotoxicity with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 2 and 4.5 µg/mL against LoVo (human colon cancer) and KB (human oral squamous cell cancer) cells, respectively. The possibility of creating new hybrid medicinal agents based on overall metabolomic patterning between species, or “interkingdom metabolomes” of associations between particular medicinal fungi and higher plant species, should not be overlooked (Lansky and Nevo 2009). This is a topic to which we shall return before closing.
