Abstract
Leaves and barks of Ficus platiphylla are used in traditional medicine in western Africa for treating bacterial infections. The aim of this work was to screen the biological activities of extracts of the plant. Three common bacterial strains were used in this study. The antiradical and antibacterial activities were assessed respectively by spectrophotometric and agar diffusion methods. The bark and leaves are very rich in dry matter, ash and as well as proteins and carbohydrates. Ethyl acetate was the best solvent to extract polyphenols (4.77-5.01 g/100 g) and flavonoids (1.97-3.32 g/100 g). Similarly, ethyl acetate extracts showed the best anti-free radical activity with IC50 = 5.10 and 5.22 µg/ml for bark and leaves respectively. The aqueous and methanolic leaf extracts displayed the highest antibacterial activity on the Escherichia coli, with an inhibition diameter (ID) of 11.50 ± 0.50 mm. On Salmonella typhi, the most active antibacterial agents were found in leaf ethyl acetate extracts with ID = 15.33 ± 0.58 mm. These extracts have the same efficacy as the commercial antibiotic ciprofloxacin (positive control) which displayed an ID of 15.33 ± 0.76 mm. Finally, S. aureus was highly sensitive to ethyl acetate extracts of the barks: ID = 15.50 ± 1.32 mm (p-value = 4.10E-6 < 0.05). The richness in secondary metabolites associated with the antiradical and antibacterial activities justify use of F. platiphylla in traditional medicine. This study shows that F. platiphylla could be a valuable medicinal plant for the management of common bacterial infections. Key words: Ficus platiphylla extracts, phytochemical screening, antiradical activity, antibacterial activity.
Highlights
The use of natural products for primary needs, for health care, has always been part of human practice.The treatment of common diseases and conditions caused by pathogens is increasingly unaffordable for people in developing due to the high cost combined with the low efficacy of some allopathic drugs (Shahzad et al, 2016; Traoré et al, 2019)
This study shows that F. platiphylla could be a valuable medicinal plant for the management of common bacterial infections
We performed a phytochemical screening of F. platiphylla
Summary
The use of natural products for primary needs, for health care, has always been part of human practice.The treatment of common diseases and conditions caused by pathogens is increasingly unaffordable for people in developing due to the high cost combined with the low efficacy of some allopathic drugs (Shahzad et al, 2016; Traoré et al, 2019). Traditional plant-based medicine remains the first option for treatment in low-income countries This is due to the historical considerations but more importantly, the lower-cost and access these medicines (Kpadonou et al, 2019; Traoré et al, 2019). It is important to extend investigations on medicinal plants using modern tools in order to acquire a better knowledge of their therapeutic virtues. These discoveries could yield to unknown bioactive molecules that could be useful for the treatment of diseases and the standardisation of therapeutic compositions (Haidara, 2018)
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