PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY IN LEAF GALL OF FICUS GLOMERATA ROXB. (MORACEAE)

Abstract

Ficus glomerata Roxb., (Moraceae) is a large deciduous tree and plant parts such as root, bark, leaves, fruits and galls are used in therapeutics. The leaf gall of F. glomerata is induced by the insect Pauropsylla depressa. In the present study, the solvent extracts of leaves as well as the gall portion at various developmental stages were screened for the presence of phytochemicals in comparison to the normal leaves. The presence of flavonoids, terpenoids, saponins were detected in normal and galled leaves, while most phytochemicals were present in the gall portion of the leaves. The gall stages as well as the gall leaves were tested for total phenolic content and DPPH radical scavenging assay. Results indicated ~0.7-fold increase in the phenolic content of gall leaves (90µg/ml GAE) over the normal leaves (62.5µg/ml GAE).  Comparison of phenolic contents among various stages of gall development namely, young, medium and mature indicated high phenolic content in young galls (123µg/ml GAE). Young galls depicted 80% radical scavenging activity.  This is the first report on the antioxidant activity in the insect-induced galls of F. glomerata.