Ethnopharmacology , phytochemistry and biological activities of selected African species of the genus Ficus

K E Y W O R D S Ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry and biological activities of selected African species of the genus Ficus Olaoluwa Olaoluwa1,2 *, Olayombo Taiwo2, Lutfun Nahar1,3 and Satyajit D. Sarker1 1Centre for Natural Products Discovery, School of Pharmacy & Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, United Kingdom 2Department of Chemistry, University of Ibadan, Ibadan 200284, Nigeria 3Laboratory of Growth Regulators, Institute of Experimental Botany ASCR & Palacký University, Šlechtitelů 27, 78371 Olomouc, Czech Republic Received: 01 October 2021 Revised: 15 March 2022 Accepted: 30 March 2022 ePublished: 31 March 2022 Corresponding author: Olaoluwa Olaoluwa Tel: ++234-8052601033; Fax: +234-8052601033 E-mail address: omosalewa.olaoluwa@gmail.com, doi: 10.30495/tpr.2022.1939285.1219 Bioactive compounds Ficus Moraceae Phytochemistry Traditional Uses papers from scientific literatures have revealed the efficacy of medicinal plants from Africa, which are thought to play an essential role in the preservation of health and the introduction of new treatments (Mahomoodally, 2013). In spite of this, there is a paucity of updated comprehensive compilations of promising medicinal plants from Africa. The angiosperm genus Ficus L. (commonly known as the figs) belongs to the Moraceae (Mulberry or Fig) family and is native throughout the tropics and the subtropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone (Somashekhar and Mahesh 2013). It is a large genus with about 800 species spread globally (Berg and Corner, 2005) including trees, shrubs, vines, climbers, epiphytes, and hemi-epiphytic stranglers, of which 120 species are found in the Americas, 105 species in Africa (Arabian Peninsula, Indian Ocean Islands including Madagascar), and 367 species occurring through the Asian-Australasian region (Berg