In vitro and in vivo genotoxicity assessments of Ficus erecta Thunb. leaves extract support its functional and pharmaceutical potential.

Ficus erecta Thunb. has been used to treat various inflammatory diseases owing to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties. However, scientific evidence on the safety of F. erecta extract is limited. We evaluated the genotoxicity of ethanol extract of F. erecta (EEFE) using multiple tests. The bacterial reverse mutation (Ames) test showed that EEFE treatment of five bacterial strains (Salmonella typhimurium TA98, TA100, TA1535, TA1537, and Escherichia coli WP2uvrA) did not affect the number of revertant colonies in the absence or presence of S9 mix, a metabolic activator, up to a concentration of 312.5 µg/plate. The number of chromosomal aberrations associated with EEFE was similar to that in the negative controls, with no significant increase up to a concentration of 31.3 µg/mL EEFE. The chromosomal aberration assay showed that EEFE was not associated with any abnormalities in combination with or without S9 mix. The in vivo micronucleus test revealed that EEFE did not influence the frequency of bone marrow micronuclei up to 2000 mg/kg body weight of male ICR mice. Moreover, no changes in mouse body weight or mortality rates were observed. Our study demonstrates the safety of EEFE in genotoxicity tests, providing proof-of-concept for its use as a medicine and functional food.