ANTIOXIDANT AND FREE RADICAL SCAVENGING ACTIVITY OF FRUITS OF FICUS BENGALENSIS LINN.

Summary Antioxidant activity of defatted ethanolic extract of fruits of Ficus bengalensis was studied for its free radical scavenging property in different in vitro models as 1, 1Diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH), nitric oxide, superoxide, hydroxyl radical and lipid peroxide radical model. The extract showed significant dose-dependent free radical scavenging property in all the models except in hydroxyl radical inhibition assay. IC50 values were found to be 8.16, 14.81, 25.66 and 16.32 µg/ml respectively in DPPH, nitric oxide, superoxide and lipid peroxidation inhibition assays. However in hydroxyl radical inhibition assay 1000 µg/ml extract showed only 11% inhibition with respect to the control. Measurement of total phenolic compounds by Folin-Ciocalteu’s phenol reagent indicated that 1mg of the extract contained 128.55µg equivalent of pyrocatechol, indicating the possibility of its having antioxidant property apparently due to its high phenolic content.