Abstract
Ficus species have wide distribution and uses worldwide traditionally as medicine, vegetable, food, fodder and fuel wood etc. The flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer was employed for the estimation, conducted on four plant parts (leaves, bark, aerial roots and fruits) of 12 samples of eight medicinally important species of Ficus and nine samples of wild edible fruits of genus Ficus, collected from different locations within Pakistan. The results of the present study provide justification for the usage of these fruits in daily diet for nutrition as well as for medicinal usage and medicinal plants in the treatment of different diseases. The metal contents in the samples were found at different levels which play a vital role in cure of diseases. Toxic elements Cd and Pb were also found but at very low concentration. These results can give the importance about the wild edible fruits and used to set new standards for prescribing the dosage of the herbal drugs prepared from these plant materials in herbal remedies and in pharmaceutical companies. Key words: Atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS), drugs, elements, Ficus, fruits, medicinal.
Highlights
The drugs are derived either from the whole plant or from their different organs, like leaves, stem, bark, root, flower, seed, prop roots etc
The analysis for various elements in the sampled medicinal plants indicated that K, Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, and Zn were present in all samples which are responsible for curing many diseases
Higher concentration of Zn in wild edible fruits was observed in F. racemosa (33.6 mg/g)
Summary
The drugs are derived either from the whole plant or from their different organs, like leaves, stem, bark, root, flower, seed, prop roots etc. Even the modern system of medicine has adopted a number of plant-derived drugs which have been used in traditional system of medicines. Medicinal plants play an important role in traditional medicine and are widely consumed as home remedies. In recognition of the important role that major and trace elements play in health and disease of human body, in the building up and restoration phenomenon, it was observed that during the last few years remarkable progress has occurred in this area of health sciences. The quantitative estimation of various trace element concentrations is important for determining the effectiveness of the medicinal plants in treating various diseases and to understand their pharmacological action (Rajua et al, 2006).
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