Antioxidant potentials of successive green solvent extracts from the unexplored Ficus subincisa

Abstract

Ficus subincisa Buch-Ham.Ex Sm. is considered an endemic medicinal plant. The current researchbased on the antioxidant potential of four different green solvent extracts obtained by the successive solventextraction method from the unexplored F.subincisa leaves was evaluated. Various in vitro assays wereperformed to achieve the aim and variation in scavenging potential of the four green extracts, showed thehighest total phenolic content (TPC), Total flavonoid content (TFC), and free radical scavenging potentialagainst DPPH, ABTS, FRAP Phosphomolybdate, and nitric oxide radical scavenging assay as compared toother extracts.The extraction of Ficus subincisa with different green solvents namely: d-limonene, isopropylalcohol, ethyl lactate, and hydroalcohol.Extracts were evaluated for their antioxidant activity using differentassays namely, DPPH, ABTS, and nitric oxide scavenging. The Folin-Ciocalteau and AlCl3 colorimetricmethods were measured the content of total phenolics and total flavonoids respectively. Reducing power wasdetermined by phosphomolybdate and Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) methods.Considerableamount of phenolic and flavonoid contents were recorded in the hydroalcohol extract. Although hydroalcoholfractions exhibited good antioxidant activities, the most distinguished radical scavenging potential.Hydroalcohol sowed equivalent to standard in radical scavenging activity by DPPH. Hydroalcohol showedthe higher radical scavenging activity by DPPH (92.03%), Nitric oxide (89.21%) and by ABTS (89.45%),antioxidant activity, the highest total phenols content (78.67 ± 1.07 mg GAE/g fraction), the highest totalflavonoids content (195.58 ± 3.31 mg quercetin equivalent/g extract fraction). The hydroalcohol extractshowed a reducing power of (93.2%) and (1373.91 ± 4.35 µM/ml Ascorbic acid equivalent) using thephosphomolybdate and FRAP assays, respectively.Hydroalcohol shows the strongest antioxidant activity, andit can be attributed to its high content in phenolic and flavonoid compounds. It can be concluded that leavesof Ficus subincisa can be used as an effective natural source of antioxidant, and as a commercial basis for theevolution of nutraceuticals