Abstract

PHYTOCHEMICAL PROFILING, EVALUATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF METHANOL, ACETONE AND AQUEOUS BARK EXTRACTS OF FICUS AURICULATA LOUR

J. Ramalakshmana*, N. Chandra Babu, V. Madan Mohan Rao*, T. Syamala, S. B. Padal

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Abstract

The present study investigated the phytochemical composition, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties of Ficus auriculata bark extracts. Bark samples were processed and extracted using acetone, methanol, and aqueous solvents via soxhlet extraction. Preliminary qualitative and quantitative phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, triterpenoids, carbohydrates, tannins, phenolic compounds, saponin glycosides, and proteins, with methanol extract containing the widest range of bioactive constituents. Total phenolic content (TPC), estimated using the Folin-Ciocalteu method was highest in the methanol extract. Antimicrobial activity, evaluated by the cup plate agar diffusion method against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus niger, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, indicated that methanol extract exhibited the strongest inhibition, particularly against S. aureus. Antioxidant potential assessed through the DPPH assay demonstrated a strong positive correlation between TPC and radical scavenging activity (PCC = 0.918, R² = 0.843), confirming phenolic compounds as the major contributors. The findings suggest that methanol is the most effective solvent for extracting bioactive compounds from F. auriculata bark.

Keywords: phytochemical, composition, antimicrobial, antioxidant and Soxhlet.