ABSTRACT
More than 800 species of Ficus genus are trees, shrubs, hemi-epiphytes, climbers, and creepers and distributed in India, China, Australia, the Pacific islands, Uganda, Cameroon, Europe, America, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria. In Japanese traditional medicine, dried leaves, aerial roots, and bark of F. microcarpa are used for regulation of perspiration, alleviating fever and relieving pain. In Chinese traditional medicine, F. microcarpa has been used to treat flu, tonsillitis, bronchitis, malaria, acute enteritis, and rheumatism. Ficus plants contain lupeol, oleanolic acid, 20-taraxastene-3β,22αdiol, and ursolic acid, friedelane, ursane, oleanane, lupane, cycloartane, taraxerane, peroxy and cyclopropyl skeletons, betulinic acid, betulonic acid, lupeol and lupeol acetate, epicatechin, ficuflavoside, ficuglucoside, ficuisoflavone, ficusol, isolupinisoflavone E, isosaponarin, and isovitexin. Crude extracts and isolated compounds of bark, fruits, and leaves of Ficus plants exhibit antioxidant, antibacterial (Bacillus brevis, B. cereus and B. subtilis, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa), anticancer, antidiabetic, and anti-diarrheal properties. This chapter describes about folklore medicinal uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological activities, and culture conditions of Ficus plants.
