Anjeer( Ficus carica uses)

 

                         

 

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Ficus carica (Anjeer)

Introduction

Ficus (Moraceae) comprises one of the largest genera of

 angiosperms with more than 800 species of trees, shrubs, hemiepiphytes, climbers, and creepers in the tropics and subtropics worldwide [1].

 This genus is an important genetic resource due to its high economic and nutritional values and also an important part of the biodiversity in the rainforest ecosystem. It is also a good source of food for fruit-eating animals in tropical areas [2].

 

F. carica L. is an important member of the genus Ficus. It is ordinarily deciduous and commonly referred to as “fig”. The common fig is a tree native to southwest Asia and the eastern Mediterranean, and it is one of the first plants that were cultivated by humans. The fig is an important harvest worldwide for its dry and fresh consumption. Its common edible part is the fruit which is fleshy, hollow, and receptacle [4]. 

The dried fruits of F. carica have been reported as an important source of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, sugars, organic acids, and phenolic compounds [5–7]. 

The fresh and dried figs also contain high amounts of fiber and polyphenols [8, 9]. 

Figs are an excellent source of phenolic compounds, such as proanthocyanidins, whereas red wine and tea,

 which are two good sources of phenolic compounds, contain

 phenols lower than those in fig [10]. 

Its fruit, root, and leaves are used in traditional medicine to treat various ailments such as gastrointestinal (colic, indigestion, loss of appetite, and diarrhea), respiratory (sore throats, coughs, and bronchial problems), and cardiovascular disorders and as anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic remedy [11, 12].

F. carica L. belongs to the order of Urticales and family of Moraceae with over 1400 species classified into about 40 genera [13].

 

F. carica has been cultivated for a long time in various places worldwide for its edible fruit. It is supposed to originate from Western Asia and spread to the Mediterranean by humans [18]

. It is also an imperative world crop today. Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Spain, Greece, California, Italy, Brazil, and other places with typically mild winters and hot dry summers are the major producers of edible figs [19].

 Fruits can be eaten raw, dried, canned, or in other preserved forms [20].

F. carica possibly originated from the Middle East, which is one of the early cultivated fruit species [21]

 and currently is an important crop worldwide.

 Nowadays, the common fig still grows wild in the Mediterranean basin. Morphological data propose that the fig is gynodioecious, whereas from a functional standing point, the fig is considered dioecious with two tree morphs: Capri fig and edible fig. Habitual fig cultivation areas have significantly decreased, and genetic variability was reduced due to disappearance of many cultivars selected in the past. Actually almost all grown cultivars are the result of old selection and are maintained by cutting as a way of vegetative propagation [22].

The fruit (syconium or fig) and reproduction systems of species in the genus Ficus are exclusive. It can only be pollinated by their associated agaonid wasps (Hymenoptera: Chalcoidea: Agaonide), and in turn the

 wasps can only lay eggs within their associated fruit. For successful pollination and reproduction of species of F. carica to occur, its associated pollinator wasp must be present. Conversely, for successful reproduction of agaonid wasps to occur, their associated species of F. carica must be present [15]. The pollinator wasp for F. carica is Blastophaga psenes (L.) [23].

Ref 

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013 Sep 16;2013:974256. doi: 10.1155/2013/974256

Ficus carica L. (Moraceae): Phytochemistry, Traditional Uses and Biological Activities

Shukranul Mawa 1, Khairana Husain 1,*, Ibrahim Jantan 1