# In vitro antioxidant activity of Ficus carica L. latex from 18 different cultivars

## TL;DR

This study tested the antioxidant potential of latex from 18 fig cultivars and found that 'White Genoa' had the highest activity, suggesting it could be a natural alternative to synthetic antioxidants.

## Contribution

The study compares antioxidant activity and phenolic content of Ficus carica latex across 18 cultivars using multiple assays and extraction methods.

## Key findings

- The 'White Genoa' cultivar showed the highest antioxidant activity in DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays.
- Maceration and UAE extraction methods yielded different but high TPC and antioxidant activity levels in 'White Genoa'.
- F. carica latex is identified as a potential natural source of antioxidants for food and pharmaceutical applications.

## Abstract

As synthetic antioxidants that are widely used in foods are known to cause detrimental health effects, studies on natural additives as potential antioxidants are becoming increasingly important. In this work, the total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity of Ficus carica Linn latex from 18 cultivars were investigated. The TPC of latex was calculated using the Folin–Ciocalteu assay. 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) and ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) were used for antioxidant activity assessment. The bioactive compounds from F. carica latex were extracted via maceration and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) with 75% ethanol as solvent. Under the same extraction conditions, the latex of cultivar ‘White Genoa’ showed the highest antioxidant activity of 65.91% ± 1.73% and 61.07% ± 1.65% in DPPH, 98.96% ± 1.06% and 83.04% ± 2.16% in ABTS, and 27.08 ± 0.34 and 24.94 ± 0.84 mg TE/g latex in FRAP assay via maceration and UAE, respectively. The TPC of ‘White Genoa’ was 315.26 ± 6.14 and 298.52 ± 9.20 µg GAE/mL via the two extraction methods, respectively. The overall results of this work showed that F. carica latex is a potential natural source of antioxidants. This finding is useful for further advancements in the fields of food supplements, food additives and drug synthesis in the future.