Bioassay guided isolation and identification of anti-inflammatory active components from Ficus microcarpa

Ficus microcarpa L. fil. belongs to the genus Ficus of family Moraceae, one of the largest species of flowering plants with about 800 genera of deciduous trees. The aerial root, bark and dried leaves were traditional use for the treatment of chronic bronchitis, alleviating fever, pain-relieving, ulcers, and diabetes.

The anti-inflammatory constituent was isolated from the methanol extracts using bioassay guided fractionation evaluated by estimating the levels of nitric oxide (NO) after 24h of LPS induction (1 µg/mL). Asiaticoside, a triterpene from Centella asiatica, was used as control. The extract was partitioned with hexane, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and water, and the active partition was further fractionated using flash chromatography system. Fractions isolated from column chromatography were assayed for anti-inflammatory and cytotoxicity activities. The isolated components from the active fraction, oleanolic acid and β-sitosterol, were confirmed by NMR and LC-MS analysis.