In vitro antimicrobial activity of the methanol extract and compounds from the wood of Ficus elastica Roxb. ex Hornem. aerial roots

Ficus elastica Roxb. ex Hornem., an edible plant belonging to the family of Moraceae, is traditionally used against skin infections and allergies besides having diuretic properties. This study aimed at investigating the antimicrobial activity of the wood of F. elastica aerial roots against a set of bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus; Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Providencia stuartii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and a yeast (Candida albicans). A mixture of linear aliphatic alkanes with n-hexacosane as major compound, β-sitosterol, biochanin A, sitosteryl 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (1), elasticamide (2), elastiquinone (3) and ficusoside B (4) were purified and characterized. Antimicrobial activities, expressed as minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), indicated that the methanol extract showed MIC of 39.1 μg/mL; the lowest values were obtained for 3 and 4, with MIC as low as 4.9 μg/mL, smaller than the values of reference antibiotics (25 μg/mL). Furthermore, as most of the studied samples exhibited Minimum Microbicidal Concentration/Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MMC/MIC) ratios lower than 4, a microbicidal effect was clearly exhibited. The overall results provided evidence that the wood of F. elastica aerial roots, as well as some of its isolated components might be potential sources of new antimicrobial drugs

Identification of compounds with anti-proliferative activity from the wood of Ficus elastica Roxb. ex Hornem. aerial roots.

The natural products fromplants still remain an important source of pharmaceuticals. In the current study, methanolicwood extracts of Ficus elastica Roxb. ex Hornem. (Moraceae) aerial roots were screened for anti-cancer activity. Using bioassay-guided fractionation, three new compounds, elasticamide (1), elastiquinone (2) and ficusoside B (3), together with four known compounds, were isolated. The structures of the new compounds were established by means of extensive spectroscopic analyses (1D and 2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS, as well as IR and UV) and by comparison of their spectroscopic data with those reported for structurally related molecules. The isolated compounds were afterwards evaluated for their anti-proliferative effect on six human cancer cell lines (U373n and Hs683 glioblastoma, MCF7 and A549 NSCLC carcinoma, and B16F10 and SK-MEL-28 melanoma) using colorimetric MTT assay. Most notably, elastiquinone (2) showed cytotoxic activity with IC50 = 14 μM against B16F10 melanoma cells, whereas the peracetylated form of ficusoside B (3a) displayed the lowest IC50 value (11 μM) against U373n gliomacell lines. Elasticamide (1) and ficusoside B (3) exhibited aweak cytotoxicity with IC50 values ≥88 μM. The results of this investigation demonstrate that the wood of F. elastica aerial roots might be a potential source for identifying new compounds with potent anti-proliferative activity.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe