A REVIEW ON THE PROSPEROUS PHYTOCHEMICAL AND PHARMACOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF FICUS CARICA

Ficus Carica Linn belongs to the family Moraceae. It is commonly known as Anjeer, which is a medium sized deciduous tree widely distributed in sub-tropical and tropical countries. It has been used as fruit and medicine for several centuries. Phytoconstituents like flavonoids, phenolics, fatty acis, proanthocyanidine, phytosteroles (campesterol, stigmasterol, sitosterol), xanthotoxin, psoralens, bergapten, xanthotoxol have been extracted from leaves and fruits, and peptides from latex. The fruit extract possess hypoglycemic, diuretic, antioxidant, immunity, hepetoprotective activities, latex has anthelmintic and anticarcinogenic activities. The present review on the phytochemistry and pharmacology of Ficus is an effort to give a detailed literature survey of its properties.