Comparative in vitro Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Activity of Various Extracts of Ficus Species

Introduction: Ficus religiosa, Ficus benghalensis and Ficus glomerata are plants from Ficus species used traditionally for the treatment of various ailments. This study aimed to investigate in vitro antidiabetic and antioxidant activity of three plants from Ficus species and effect of extracting solvents, total flavonoids and phenolics content on its in vitro activity. Methods: Dried leaf powder was extracted successively by using solvents with increasing order of polarity index (PI). In vitro antioxidant (RP: reducing power assay, DPPH: 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay and HP: Hydrogen peroxide assay) and antidiabetic (αA: α-amylase assay and αG: α-glucosidase assay) activities as well as total flavonoid (TF) and total phenolic (TP) contents of extracts were evaluated. The correlation between in vitro activities and solvent polarity index, total flavonoid and phenolic content were established by using pearson’s correlation coefficient (R). Results: Strong positive correlation was observed with PI of extracting solvents and TP content of Ficus religiosa (PI/ TP, R=0.8159) and Ficus glomerata (PI/ TP, R=0.9172). Comparatively benzene and water extracts of Ficus glomerata were found to have significantly (P<0.05) highest in vitro antidiabetic and antioxidant activity respectively. Strong positive correlation was observed between TF and αG inhibitory (TF/ αG, R=0.793) effects of Ficus benghalensis. In addition, strong positive correlation observed between TP and antioxidant activity (TP/DPPH, R=0.9744; TP/RP, R=0.9514 and TP/HP, R=0.8108) of Ficus glomerata. Conclusions: Finding of our research will help in selection of solvents for extracting antidiabetic and antioxidant rich phytoconstituents from Ficus species.