Natural coumarins, XXII the seasonal variations in the coumarin make up of ficus salicifolia L

ABSTRACT

Previous studies revealed that genus Ficus, family Moraceae, is among the promising plant sources with regard to the medicinally valuable furocoumarin contents .The leaves of Ficus salicifolia L. were found to contain psoralene and bergapten. So it was deemed of interest to study the coumarin content of the leaves, stem and fruits during different stages of growth over a complete season. This was made by using a procedure depending in principle on the initial resolution of the two furocoumarins, psoralene and bergapten on thin layer chromatoplates. The resulting spots would then be measured densitometrically and the areas of the resulting peaks determined planimetrically as previously applied in analogous plants