Evaluation of extracts of leaf of three Ficus deltoidea varieties for antioxidant activities and secondary metabolites

Present study aimed to investigate alcoholic and aqueous extracts of three varieties of Ficus deltoidea for antioxidant activity using in vitro models such as free radical scavenging activity, reduction power of iron (III), superoxide anion (O₂-) scavenging, xanthine oxidase (XOD), nitric oxide (NO·) and lipid peroxidation. The total polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins were estimated using colorimetry in order to investigate their correlation with antioxidant activities. Alcoholic and aqueous extracts of different varieties of the plant exhibited different radical scavenging activities in different models (P<0.05). Both the types of extracts displayed high antioxidant activity in DPPH and superoxide anion scavenging models, and the activity was comparable to quercetin, rutin, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), ascorbic acid and allopurinol. A correlation was observed between antioxidant activity and content of total polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins. The results of this study indicate that the extracts of Ficus deltoidea possess promising antioxidant activity.