జర్నల్ ఆఫ్ ప్లాంట్ పాథాలజీ & మైక్రోబయాలజీ

నైరూప్య

Phytochemical Screening of Bark of Ficus Elastica and Their Antioxidant Activity

Zubia Gulzar, Zaheen Tara, Fozia Bibi

Bark of Ficus elastica was dried in the shade for twenty days and ground into powder. After sieving, the powder was stored in a desiccator and soaked it in methanol for 72 hours at ambient conditions. After filtration, methanol was eliminated by distillation at reduced pressure, yielding a dark brown-colored extract with 9.8% dissolved solids. Its pH was 5.3. Preliminary phytochemical screening of Ficus elastica bark extract revealed the presence of secondary metabolites flavonoids, saponins, tannins and terpenoids. The primary metabolites identified were proteins (0.825%), total sugars 28.57%, of which reducing sugars (20%), non-reducing sugars (8.57%). The antioxidant activity of Ficus elastica extract against DPPH and ascorbic acid was evaluated using 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 μL extract. The maximum antioxidant activity of the bark extract was 87.118% while the antioxidant activity of ascorbic acid was 100%.