a review on phytopharmacological aspects of ficus ... - IJPRD

IJPRD, 2011; Vol 4(06): August-2012 (018 – 022) International Standard Serial Number 0974 – 9446 

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A REVIEW ON PHYTOPHARMACOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF FICUS BENGHALENSIS 

Available online on www.ijprd.com 

Shaikh Anis 1* , 

Sameer singh 1 , Mandoria Narendra 1 

1 Institute of pharmacy, Vikram university, Ujjain 

ABSTRACT 

With ever increasing momentum in the quest for newer 

antimicrobial agents, to counteract the spiralling bacterial drug 

resistance, plants are being increasingly explored in many parts of 

the world. Ficus benghalensis, the banyan, is a large and extensive 

growing tree of the Indian subcontinent. Ficus 

benghalensis produces propagating roots which grow downwards 

as aerial roots. Once these roots reach the ground, they grow into 

woody trunks that can become indistinguishable from the main 

trunk.These plants may offer a new source of potential activity 

against infective microorganisms. Roots of Ficus benghalensis 

shows antihelmintic activity. The extracts also reported to inhibit 

insulinase activity from liver and kidney. F. bengalensis has great 

potential as antimicrobial compound against microorganisms and 

it can be used for the treatment of infectious diseases caused by 

resistant microorganisms. This plant has a great medicinal value 

as it has been reported to have versatile phytochemical 

constituents including flavanoids. Flavonoids showed innvitro 

antimicrobial activity against all the bacterial strains. 

KEYWORDS antimicrobial, insulinase, antihelmintic, strains. 

INTRODUCTION 

Ficus benghalensis belongs to the family Moraceae, 

which is commonly known as Banyan tree. F. 

benghalensis are fast growing, evergreen tree 

found in monsoon and rain forests, grow up to 30 

meters, with spreading branches and many aerial 

roots Leaves, stalked, ovate-corate, 3-nerved 

entire, when young downy on both sides; petiole 

with a broad smooth greasy gland at the apex, 

compressed, downy; Fruit in auxiliary paris, the 

Correspondence to Author 

Shaikh Anis 

Institute of pharmacy, Vikram 

university, Ujjain 

Email: anisshaikh63@gmail.com 

size of a cherry External features of the bark: 

Mature bark is 12-18 mm thick,grey, closely 

adhered ashy white,light bluish-green or grey 

patches, slightly curve, thickness varies with the 

age of the tree. Surface is deeply fissured and 

rough due to the presence of longitudinal and 

transverse row of lenticles, mostly circular and 

prominent, Ficus benghalensis, the banyan, is a 

large and extensive growing tree of the Indian 

subcontinent. Ficus benghalensis produces 

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International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research & Development ISSN: 0974 – 9446 

propagating roots which grow downwards as aerial 

roots. Once these roots reach the ground, they 

grow into woody trunks that can become 

indistinguishable from the main trunk. Other 

names are also known as 'Bengal fig', 'Indian fig', 

also bargad, borh, wad, . In Tamil it is known 

as aalamaram Sanskrit names include nyagrodha . 

This tree is considered sacred in India, and often 

shelters a little or larger temple underneath, but is 

offered worship on its own generally too, and 

especially so on one particular full moon day in 

summer when the full moon occurs near the last 

star of the constellation Scorpio but definitely 

before beginning of Sagittarius. Even apart from 

the worship, it is one of the most sheltering trees in 

the heat of the land, with a large and deep shade, 

and is thus extremely useful for travellers of the old 

sort - on foot, bicycles or oxcarts, or horse riders - 

travelling for hours or days; traditionally it was 

found almost ubiquitously on roads and in village 

centres, the latter very useful for any formal or 

informal gathering to be conducted in a cool place 

or even for any poor person or a traveller to sleep 

underThe respect for this and other trees of this 

nature is thus linked both to the use and the 


worship as sacred. Also known asIndian 

Banyan, Ficus bengalensis is also the National 

tree of India. The Great Banyan in the Indian 

Botanic Garden, Howrah, is considered to be one of 

the largest trees in the world in terms of area 

covered. Two other well known large trees of this 

species are one in Uttar Pradesh near Varanasi and 

another in Karnataka near Bangalore. The 

circumference of the whole complex of trees 

grown from the one central ancestor - still very 

much alive and all connected to it by the roots 

visible well over human height - is measured in 

kilometers. On the banks of the Narmada stood a 

celebrated specimen, supposed to be that 

described by Nearchus, the admiral of Alexander 

the Great. This tree once covered an area so 

immense, that it was known to shelter no fewer 

than 7000 men, and though much reduced in size 

by the destructive power of floods, the remainder 

was described by James Forbes in his Oriental 

Memoirsas nearly 2000 ft. in circumference, while 

the trunks large and small exceeded 3000 in 

number. 

The figs are eaten by birds and mammals. Fig seeds are dispersed by birds such as the Indian Mynas and 

studies have shown that seeds that pass through the digestive system of the bird are more likely to germinate 

as well as sprout earlier. 

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Scientific classification 

Kingdom: Plantae 

(unranked): Angiosperms 

(unranked): Eudicots 

(unranked): Rosids 

Order: Rosales 

Family: Moraceae 

Genus: Ficus 

Species: F. benghalensis 

Binomial name 

Ficus benghalensis 

L. 

Synonyms 

Ficus indica L. 

Chemical constituents of the plant studied 

Preliminary phytochemical investigation of root of 

F. benghalensis showed the presence of 

carbohydrates, flavonoids, amino acids/ proteins, 

steroids, saponins and Tannins [23]. The bark of the 

Ficus benghalensis contains leucopelargonidin -3-0x-L 

rhamnoside and leuco cynidin. 3-0-x-D 

galactosyl cellobioside, glucoside beta glucoside, 

20-tetratria conthene-2- one, 6- hepatatria 

contene-10-one, pentatricentan 

Ethnobotany of the plant studied. 

Roots of Ficus benghalensis shows antihelmintic 

activity. The extracts also reported to inhibit 

insulinase activity from liver and kidney. Fruit 

extracts exhibits anti-tumour activity. [26].The fruit 

extracts of Ficus benghalensis exhibit antitumor 

activity and antibacterial activity, but no antifungal 

activity Ficus benghalensis used in Ayurveda for 

treatment of diarrhea, piles, teeth and skin 

disorders. . The bark is used in inflammation, 

swelling at neck, gonorrhea, scabies mouthwash 

for tooth ache, and for strengthening gums, and 

steeped freshly burnt bark has been said to cure 

cases of obstinate hiccup. 

Antibacterial activity of Ficus benghalensis In 

2007, aqueous and ethanolic extracts of 

F.benghalensis were investigated for antibacterial 

activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus 

mirabilis,Stapylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, 

Alcaligenesfaecalis and Salmonella typhimorium. 

The ethanolic extract showed considerable 


antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas 

aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis and Bacillus cereus. It 

also showed certain antibacterial effects against A. 

faecalis and S. typhimorium but it was inactive 

against S. aureus. Aqueous extract of F. bengalensis 

hit was concluded that ethanolic extract of F. 

bengalensis has great potential as antimicrobial 

compound against microorganisms and it can be 

used for the treatment of infectious diseases 

caused by resistant microorganisms . Actinomyces 

viscosus belongs to group of Actinomycetes. It is 

gram positive, aerobic, non sporing rod shaped 

bacteria. It is frequently encountered in high 

proportion of smooth tooth surface and gingiva. 

Various experiments were performed to check the 

antibacterial activity of F. bengalensis against A. 

viscosus. 

Antimicrobial activity of Flavonoids 

Flavones are phenolic structures containing one 

carbonyl group (as opposed to the two carbonyls in 

quinones). The addition of a 3-hydroxyl group 

yields a flavonol [30]. Flavonoids are also 

hydroxylated phenolic substances but occur as a 

C6-C3 unit linked to an aromatic ring. Since they 

are known to be synthesized by plants in response 

to microbial infection [ 31]), it should not be 

surprising that they have been found in vitro to be 

effective antimicrobial substances against a wide 

array of microorganisms. Their activity is probably 

due to their ability to complex with extracellular 

and soluble proteins and to complex with bacterial 

20


cell walls, as described above for quinones. More 

lipophilic flavonoids may also disrupt microbial 

membranes Catechins, the most reduced form of 

the C3 unit in flavonoid compounds, deserve 

special mention. These flavonoids have been 

extensively researched due to their occurrence in 

oolong green teas. It was noticed some time ago 

that teas exerted antimicrobial activity and that 

they contain a mixture of catechin compounds. 

These compounds inhibited in vitro Vibrio cholerae 

O1, Streptococcus mutans, Shigella and other 

bacteria and microorganisms. The catechins 

inactivated cholera toxin in Vibrio and inhibited 

isolated bacterial 

DISCUSSION 

With ever increasing momentum in the quest for 

newer antimicrobial agents, to counteract the 

spiralling bacterial drug resistance, plants are being 

increasingly explored in many parts of the world. 

These plants may offer a new source of potential 

activity against infective microorganisms We 

studied the antibacterial properties of flavonoid 

extract of Ficus benghalensis. This study shows 

F.benghalensis has significant antibacterial activity 

against most of the tested bacterial pathogens. Of 

these S.aureus and P.aeruginosa are important 

human pathogens with known potential for drug 

resistance. P.vulgaris is again important multi-drug 

resistant pathogen with potential for producing 

metallo β-lactamases and extended spectrum β 

lactamases .The MIC for Proteus vulgaris and 

Bacillus subtilis were extremely low followed by 

Pseudomons aeruginosa and E.coli .The MIC of 

S.aureus was little high compared to other gram 

negative bacteria. The number of flavonoids inhibit 

the growth of E.coli and Plasmodium falciparum 

invivo by targeting specific enzymes of fattyacid 

biosynthesis. 

CONCLUSION 

This article comprised of plant description, 

phytochemical constitution, total flavanoid 

content, antibacterial activity (disc diffusion assay, 

minimum inhibitory concentration) of Ficus 

benghalensis Linn. (moraceae), a medicinal plant 


found throught India and also in Bengal. This plant 

has a great medicinal value as it has been reported 

to have versatile phytochemical constituents 

including flavanoids. Flavonoids showed innvitro 

antimicrobial activity against all the bacterial 

strains.This is the evalution of the activity of 

flavonoids against β-lactamase producing 

Staphylococcus aureus At present, 

flavonoidcontaining preparations are also 

produced for the treatment of stomach and 

duodenum disorders , as well as glaucoma, 

hemorrhagic retinopathy, and thyroid gland 

hyperfunction [49].Thus, flavonoids may be 

considered potential therapeutic compounds for 

infections that may be caused by these pathogenic 

bacteria in the future. Therefore, further work is 

underway to identify the bioactive compound. 

Additionally, the antimicrobial activity of some 

antibacterials in combination with flavonoids 

against the pathogenic bacteria . 

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