In vitro Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activities of Methanolic Leaf Extract of Ficus hispida Linn.

This study was aimed to investigate in vitro antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of methanolic leaf extract of Ficus hispida Linn. Antioxidant potential of the extract was evaluated by using 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging, total antioxidant capacity and reducing power methods. Cytotoxic activity was evaluated using brine Shrimp lethality bioassay. The extract showed good antioxidant activities in all antioxidant assays compared to the reference antioxidant ascorbic acid in a dose dependent manner. In DPPH scavenging assay, the IC50 value of the extract was 58.14μg/ml while the IC50 value of ascorbic acid was 48.78μg/ml. Total antioxidant activity also increased in a dose dependent manner. Moreover, the extract showed strong reducing power. In Brine Shrimp Lethality Bioassay, the LC50 value of the extract was 7.94 μg/ml while LC50 of Vincristine sulfate (reference standard) was 0.078 μg/ml. These results suggest that leaves of Ficus Hispida Linn. has in vitro antioxidant and cytotoxic activities.