Summary Ficus carica L. (Moraceae), the ‘fig tree’, is reported to help in the prevention of vein blockage. Its rich fiber content has a laxative effect and fig latex inhibits the growth of carcinoma cells. Despite the wide use in the Indian traditional system of medicine of, espe- cially, the fruit as an antidiabetic drug, and pharmacological inves- tigation of the leaves, very little investigation has been conducted on phytochemical properties of the plant. An HPTLC method has therefore been established for simultaneous quantification of four biomarkers – bergapten, psoralen, rutin, and chlorogenic acid – in different tissues of the plant. Levels of bergapten and psoralen were highest in the leaves and bark whereas amounts in the fruit were negligible. Levels of chlorogenic acid were highest in the fruit and the maximum concentrations of rutin were found in the leaves. It is therefore apparent that the part of the plant to be used as a drug should be decided on the basis of the activity desired. This HPTLC method can also be used for quality control and stan- dardization of different parts of F. carica. 1 Introduction The fig tree (Ficus carica L., Moraceae) is common in the Mediterranean and in other countries with a dry and warm-tem- perate climate, for example India. The nutritive and pharmaco- logical value of the plant has recently been investigated. Con- sumption helps to prevent vein blockage, its high fiber content has a laxative effect, and fig latex inhibits the growth of carci- noma cells [1]. Although many investigations have been con- ducted on the leaves of the fig tree, other parts have been much less investigated. In 1998, Serraclara et al. [2] reported the hypoglycemic action of a fig leaf decoction in type-I diabetic patients, and in 2000, Canal et al. [3] used a chloroform extract obtained from a decoction of its leaves to reduce cholesterol lev- els in rats with diabetes. Antimutagenic activity of branches of F. carica has also been reported [4] as also has an irritant effect of terpenes isolated from its leaves [5]. The pharmacological prop- erties of the plant are probably because of the large amounts of phenolic compounds in these extracts. Phenolic compounds with reported pharmacological properties, for example the fura- nocoumarins psoralen and bergapten [6], and flavonoids [7], have already been isolated from fig leaves; the fruit has also been reported to contain phytosterols and fatty acids [8]. Despite widespread use in the Indian traditional system of med- icine of, especially, the fruit for treatment of diabetes, and phar- macological investigation of the leaves, there has been very lit- tle investigation of the phytochemistry of the fruits and leaves, and little effort has been made to quantify these active principles in the different parts of the fig tree to determine the compounds responsible for the activity. Attempts have been made to quanti- fy furocoumarins in plant extracts [9] and in citrus essential oils [10] by use of HPLC. Because HPTLC is an easier and more economical technique which is also widely acceptable for qual- ity control and standardization of complex samples such as plant A.P. Singh, D.P. Singh, S. Srivastava, R Govindarajan, and A.K.S. Rawat, Phar- macognosy and Ethnopharmacology Division, National Botanical Research Insti- tute, Lucknow-226001, India. E-mail: pharmacognosy1@rediffmail.com A Validated Quantitative HPTLC Method for Analysis of Biomarkers in Ficus carica L. Adarsh Pratap Singh, Dhirendra Pratap Singh, Sharad Srivastava, R. Govindarajan, and Ajay Kumar Singh Rawat* Key Words Ficus carica HPTLC Bergapten Psoralen Rutin Chlorogenic acid Journal of Planar Chromatography 20 (2007) 6, 437–441 DOI: 10.1556/JPC.20.2007.6.8 437 0933-4173/$ 20.00 © Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest Figure 1 The structures of the compounds investigated.