Comparative Study of Antimicrobial Activity of Seven Ficus Species Cultivated in Egypt

Ficus species are rich sources of compounds that treat various diseases with limited reports examining those cultivated in Egypt. We compared the antibacterial, antifungal, anti-leishmanial, anti-malarial and anti-trypanosomal activities of the total methanolic extracts of seven Egyptian Ficus species leaves andone bark of F.bengalensis. The extracts were tested against two fungal strains;namely Candida albicans (C.albicans), and Aspergillus niger (A.niger), and against four bacterial species, namely Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus), Bacillus subtilus (B.subtilus), Klebsiella pneumoniae (K.pneumoniae), and Escherichia coli(E. coli) using disc diffusion method. Also, the extracts were tested for their anti-leishmanial, antimalarial and anti-trypanosomal activities. All the extracts of Ficus showed moderate to high antibacterial activity against Gram positive and Gram-negative bacteria. F.retusa showed the highest activity against E.coli (inhibition zone=24mm), followed by F.elastica and F.cycomorous (inhibition zone=22mm). The highest inhibition zones against K. pneumoniaewere for F.platyphylla and F.retusa (inhibition zone=24 and 22mm, respectively). All the extractsshowed no antifungal activity against A.niger. Also, no anti-leishmanial, oranti-malarial or anti-trypanosomal activities against the microorganismstested. In conclusion, methanolic extracts of different Ficus species had promising antibacterial activity and could be used as a cure for some bacterial diseases.