Comparative biochemical evaluation of leaf extracts of Ficus sycomorus and Piliostigma thonningii plant

The study examined the phytochemical composition, DPPH radical scavenging activity, hydrogen peroxide scavenging radical activity, ferric reducing power, hemolytic inhibition, hemagglutination inhibition and antibacterial activity of methanol leaf extract of Ficus sycomorus and P. thonningii plant. The results showed the presence of tannins, saponnins, flavonoids, glycoside and phenols while terpenoids, proteins and steroids were absent. The methanol leaf extract of the plants exhibited strong antioxidant activity measured using DPPH radical scavenging activity (Figure 1), hydrogen peroxide radical scavenging activity (Figure 2) and Ferric reducing power assay (Figure 3) at various concentrations of the extract used (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mg/ml). The hemolytic inhibition assay (Figure 4) and hemagglutination inhibition assay (Table 2 and 3) of the plants exhibited strong receptor binding affinity on human red blood cells. The methanol extract from the plants exhibited antibacterial activity (% inhibition) (Table 4) against five selected pathogenic organisms (E. coli, S. aureus, S. typhi, B. cereus and P. aeruginosa) at 2.0, 4.0, 6.0, 8.0 and 10 mg/ml concentrations of the extract. Our findings support the use of F. sycomorus and P. thonningii plant in the management and treatment of various ailments.