Pesquisa de bioativos e avaliação da atividade biológica de extratos hidroetanólicos de Ficus pumila L. (Moraceae)

Abstract

The use of natural products, mainly of vegetable origin in medical therapy is the oldest form of medication and widespread. Ficus pumila plant widely used in the decoration of walls and partitions, known as Ivy - girl or cat's claw, has numerous biological activities. By population is used as antitumor, anti-inflammatory, tonic and also for the treatment for some diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. In this context, the present work aimed to study the chemical composition and antimicrobial and antioxidant activities, beyond the cytotoxicity of hydroethanolic extracts of root, stalk, leaves and dried and fresh fruits of Ficus pumila. Regarding the chemical composition, the results revealed the presence of tannins and flavonoids in all extracts. The higher content of phenolic compounds was screened by dried root (724.39 mg AG / g) and the lowest by the fresh stem (84.8 mg AG/ g). The highest content of flavonoids was presented by drought (15.30 mg quercetin/ g) and the lowest by dry leaf stem (1.29 mg quercetin/ g). Microbiological tests indicated the activity of the extracts against Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Micrococcus luteus, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus and Proteus mirabilis. The best results were shown by the extracts of stem and root. The extracts showed no activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis H37 (BCG). The highest antioxidant activity was shown by extracts of fresh stem (12.81 mg/ mL) and lowest for fresh leaf extract (58.56 mg/ mL). The cytotoxicity against the cell culture revealed the absence of cytotoxicity of extracts of root, stalk and fruit concentrations tested. It was concluded that Ficus pumila may be in the future a source of antioxidants and antimicrobial compounds for drug development.