Phenolic profile and biological properties of the leaves of <italic>Ficus vasta</italic> Forssk. (Moraceae) growing in Egypt.

Background: <italic>Ficus vasta</italic> Forssk. (Moraceae) is traditionally used for the treatment of various ailments; nonetheless, this species has been poorly studied to date. This work aimed to characterize the phenolic profile and to evaluate the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of a hydroalcoholic extract obtained from <italic>F. vasta</italic> leaves collected in Egypt. Methods: The phenolic profile of the extract was characterized by HPLC-PDA/ESI-MS. The antioxidant properties were examined by different in vitro systems: DPPH test, reducing power and metal chelating activity assays. Moreover, the ability of the extract to protect <italic>Escherichia coli</italic> growth and survival from H₂O₂-induced oxidative stress was evaluated. The potential toxicity was investigated using <italic>Artemia salina</italic> lethality bioassay. Finally, the antimicrobial properties against a representative set of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains and the yeast <italic>C. albicans</italic> were assayed by standard methods. Results: By HPLC-PDA/ESI-MS analysis 12 compounds belonging to the groups of phenolic acids and flavonoids were identified. The extract exhibited strong radical scavenging activity in DPPH test (IC₅₀ = 0.0672 ± 0.0038 mg/mL), reducing power (3.65 ± 0.48 ASE/mL) and chelating activity (IC₅₀ = 0.801 ± 0.007 mg/mL). A total protection against H₂O₂-induced damage on <italic>E. coli</italic> was observed. No toxicity against <italic>A. salina</italic> was found (LC₅₀ > 1000 μg/mL). The extract exhibited bacteriostatic activity against almost all the bacteria tested (MICs: 250–62.5 μg/mL). Conclusions: The obtained results demonstrate the potential of <italic>F. vasta</italic> leaves as safe sources of natural antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]