Evaluation of antidiarrheal activity of ethanolic leaf extract of Ficus sur (Moraceae)

Abstract

Ficus sur is a widely distributed tropical African tree that belongs to the Morceau. The research aims at evaluating the anti-diarrheal activity of the ethanolic leave extract of Ficus sur. Collected leave samples were washed and air-dried to constant weight; pulverized and extracted via cold maceration with ethanol. Preliminary phytochemical analysis was conducted testing for different plant secondary metabolites. In the in vivo studies, mice were used in the castor oil induced diarrhea. They were divided into four groups having five animals in each, Group one received distilled water, Group two standard loperamide, Group three low dose of the extract (200 mg/kg), Group four received high dose of the extract (400 mg/kg), after one hour of administration, the castor oil 0.05 ml was given to all of them and they were placed in the beaker having it's floor lined with pre-weighed filter paper. Then, parameters like onset of diarrhea, number of wet and dry feces and total weight of feces were observed. The phytochemical analysis qualitatively validates the presence of alkaloid, flavonoids, tannins, glycosides, phenols, and the absence of steroids and saponins. The extract possess antidiarrheal effect which is not statistically significant as was presented using one-way ANNOVA method of analysis, when compared to the control, having the low dose to be more active than the high dose. The results obtained shows that ethanolic leave extract of Ficus sur has effect on diarrhea, especially at dose of 200 mg/kg.