ESSENTIAL OIL FROM THE AERIAL ROOTS OF FICUS ELASTICA AND THEIR ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY.

Essential oil of aerial roots of Ficus elastica was extracted through hydro-distillation followed by separation by diethyl ether and dried over anhydrous sodium spectrometry study of essential oil was performed to determine its chemical constituents. Fifteen constituents were identified and major constituents were benzene, latex the of ficus elastica is used to prepare rubber. It is also used in medicine such as to skin infection, allergies, anemia, and neurodegenerative disorder and hepatic problems; and also used as diuretic agent vi . Herbalism is a traditional or also known as folk medicine extract from plants vii . They have used in medicine as astringents, carminatives, stomachics, vermonicides, and anti-dysentery drugs viii . Ficus plants are also used the treatment of cancer but in various diseases ix . Ficus elastica Roxb.and Ficus bengalensis Linn . anti-flammatory and analgesic


…………………………………………………………………………………………………….... Introduction:-
Ficus elastica belongs to the family Moraceae commonly known as the rubber fig, rubber bush, rubber tree, or Indian rubber bush. It is a widely-spread evergreen tree up to 30 m tall, having thick and dark green 7-20 cm long leaves with smooth edges and pointless tips. i Ficus elastica is belongs to genus ficus which has about 2000 varieties and 800 species ii .In Egypt, many ficus species are found in streets, gardens, parks and outside the canal banks. The fruits of two ficus species are eatable by Egyptian peoples iii . Rubber plants are not produce highly colorful or fragrant flowers for the attraction of other pollinators iv . Ficus has most commonly species which is called ficus carica L has a fruit known as The white latex obtained from the bark of ficus elastica is used to prepare rubber. It is also used in medicine such as to cure the skin infection, allergies, anemia, and neurodegenerative disorder and hepatic problems; and also used as diuretic agent vi . Herbalism is a traditional or also known as folk medicine extract from plants vii . They have used in medicine as astringents, carminatives, stomachics, vermonicides, and anti-dysentery drugs viii . Ficus plants are also used not only in the treatment of cancer but in various diseases ix . Ficus elastica Roxb.and Ficus bengalensis Linn. are anti-flammatory and analgesic x .
There is merely a report on Ficus elastica leaves, but not only a single report on the aerial roots in the literature. So, the current study was designed to investigate the chemical constituents of essential oil and its antioxidant activity. Most of the diseases are due to the oxidative stress , free radicals xi .these free radicals are the basic part of any biochemical process and shows an essential part if aerobic life and metabolism xii . Free radicals are adversely changed the lipids, proteins and DNA and large number of human diseases xiii . The essential oils are used as fragrance in perfumes and aromas in food industry xiv . These essential oils have number of biological activities, like antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant properties xv .

Collection of Plant material:-
The plant sample (aerial roots) was collected from the PCSIR (Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) on 20 December 2016 in Lahore Pakistan. The aerial roots were cut into small pieces, extraction of essential oil was carried out by hydro-distillation in the oil and fat research laboratory.

Reagents:-
All the chemicals (diethyl ether, sodium sulfate anhydrous, DPPH, used were standard and of analytical grade.

Extraction of essential oil:-
The aerial roots was collected and then cut into small pieces and essential oil was extracted through hydrodistillation by using Dean Stark apparatus. Top hazy layer was obtained and separation was carried out by using diethyl ether in a separating funnel. Organic combined layer was dried over sodium sulfate anhydrous and essential oil was stored in a well tight closed bottle in refrigerator for GC-MS and antioxidant studies.

GC-MS analysis of essential oil of aerial roots of ficus elastica:-
Essential oil extracted from the aerial roots of ficus elastica was analyzed for its chemical constituents by gas chormatograph coupled with mass spectrometery (GC-MS). Agilant 5973-6890 gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry system, operating in EI mode at 70 ev equipped with a split-splitless injector was used. Helium was used as a carrier gas at the flow rate of 1 ml/min, while HP-5MS (30 m, 0.25 mm, 0.25 um) capillary column was used. The initial temperature was programmed at 50-100 °C at the rate of 5 °C/min and then 100-250 °C at the rate of 3 °C/min followed by a constant temperature at 260 °C for a period of 20 minutes. Sample (2 μl) was injected to the column programmed at 200 °C and resolution of components was attained. Identification of components was performed by matching their retention indices and mass spectra with those obtained the NIST library.

Antioxidant activity of essential oil of aerial roots of Ficus elastic:-
Antioxidant activity of the essential oil of aerial roots of ficus elastica was evaluated by the scavenging activity of DPPH (2, 2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical. The DPPH assay was performed by following the method of Epsin et al. (2000) xvi . 0.1mM DPPH solution was prepared by dissolving 1mg of DPPH in 60 ml of methanol. Different concentration 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 µL of plant extract took in test tubes; add 30ml of reagent in every test tube ranging R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5. The reaction mixture was incubated in dark condition at room temperature for about 30 minutes. For each samples three replicates were recorded. The disappearance of the DPPH was measured spectro-photometrically at 517 nm. The percentage scavenging of DPPH by the extract was calculated by the following equation.

Where
Ac is the absorption of the control at 30 minutes.
As is the absorbance of the sample at 30 minute 139