Evaluation of antioxidant and antibacterial activities of Ficus microcarpa L. fil. extract

Antioxidant and antibacterial activities were evaluated by the extracts of Ficus microcarpa, which is one of the traditional medicinal plant and food additives in Okinawa, Japan. Results showed that methanol extracts of bark, fruits and leaves of F microcarpa exhibited excellent antioxidant activities and also possessed antibacterial activity against tested Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Ethyl acetate fraction of bark extract (BE) exerted strong antioxidant and antibacterial effects and contained high amount of total phenolics (436 GAE mg/g extract). EC50 values of BE were 4.83, 1.62 and 63.2 mu g/ml in DPPH, ABTS(center dot+), superoxide radicals scavenging methods, respectively. Inhibition zones of BE against Bacillus brevis, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Achromobacter polymorph were 18.0, 15.5, 16.5, 16.0 and 8.0 mm, respectively. Twelve phenolic compounds were identified in BE fraction by GC-MS and HPLC analyses. The strong antioxidant and antibacterial activities of F microcarpa bark extract may be attributed to its high level of phenolic compounds. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.