An Assessment of the Anti-Inflammatory, Antimicrobial, and Antioxidant Activities of Ficus sur Stem-Bark

Abstract

Ficus sur (Moraceae), is a plant that has found use in traditional African medicine in the treatment of sickle cell disease, epilepsy, pain and inflammations. The present study was aimed at investigating hexane and methanol stem-bark extracts of Ficus sur for their phytoconstituents, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Phytochemical screenings were performed using standard protocols. In-vitro anti-inflammatory activities were assessed using egg albumin denaturation method. In-vitro antimicrobial (agar and broth dilution method) and antioxidant [total antioxidant capacity (TAC), DPPH and H 2 O 2 scavenging] assays were carried out on the extracts. Thin layer chromatography was employed in the separation of the components of both extracts. The phytochemical investigation revealed the presence of secondary metabolites such as anthraquinones, terpenoids, flavonoids, steroids, saponins, phenols and tannins. The extracts showed anti-inflammatory activity comparable to that of diclofenac sodium. The extracts showed antimicrobial activity against test organisms with MICs ranging from 2.5- 40 mg/ mL. The IC 50 values for methanol and hexane extracts in the DPPH and H 2 O 2 assays were 89.95 ± 0.30 and 350.70 ± 0.72 μg/mL and 708.51 ± 0.28 and 682.76 ± 0.20 μg/mL, respectively. The TAC (gAAE/100 g) for methanol and hexane extracts were 23.560 ± 0.014 and 17.863 ± 0.037 g, respectively. The results suggest that the stem bark of Ficus sur could be exploited as potential therapeutic candidate for the treatment of bacterial infections, inflammations and diseases associated with oxidative-stress.