Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Chemistry and Nutritional Value of Fresh and Dried Fig (Ficus carica)

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Fig (Ficus carica): Production, Processing, and Properties

  • 512 Accesses

Abstract

One of the most significant agricultural plants of the tropics and subtropics is the fig fruit (Ficus carica L.). The Mediterranean diet includes both dried and fresh figs. Ficus carica fruits are consumed fresh or dried and used to make jam or alcoholic beverages. The primary phytochemical elements contained in dried and fresh figs of various types are discussed in this chapter. The two main phytoconstituent substances identified in dried and fresh figs are phenolic acids and flavonoids. Their levels are intensely regulated by several variables, including fruit color, fruit part, fruit ripeness, and drying time. The main flavonoids and phenolic acids in dried and fresh figs are quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, rutin, epicatechin, gallic acid, and chlorogenic acid. In addition, the amounts of phenolic compounds in figs are influenced by their ripening stage; ripe fruit has the highest concentrations. Regarding the impact of sun and air drying on the total amount of phytochemical components and the levels of particular carotenoids and phenolic compounds in figs, conflicting results have been reported in the literature. The utilization of fig extract as a functional ingredient in food items, clinical studies to investigate the positive impact of phyto-extracts on human health, and the valorization of bio-wastes generated during the processing of figs should be the main goals of future endeavors. The primary goals of this work were to summarize the levels of phenolics and carotenoids in dried and fresh figs and to present the main components and phytochemicals in figs.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ajmal, M., Arshad, M. U., Saeed, F., Ahmed, T., Khan, A. U., Bader-ul-Ain, H., & Suleria, H. A. R. (2016). Exploring the nutritional characteristics of different parts of fig in relation to hypoglycemic potential. Pakistan Journal of Life and Social Sciences, 14, 115–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amessis-Ouchemoukh, N., Ouchemoukh, S., Meziant, N., Idiri, Y., Hernanz, D., Stinco, C. M., et al. (2017). Bioactive metabolites involved in the antioxidant, anticancer and anticalpain activities of Ficus carica L., Ceratonia siliqua L. and Quercus ilex L. extracts. Industrial Crops and Products, 95, 6–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2016.10.007

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Arvaniti, O. S., Samaras, Y., Gatidou, G., Thomaidis, N. S., & Stasinakis, A. S. (2019). Review on fresh and dried figs: Chemical analysis and occurrence of phytochemical compounds, antioxidant capacity and health effects. Food Research International, 119, 244–267.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bachir, B. M., & Louaileche, H. (2015). A comparative study of phytochemical profile and in vitro antioxidant activities of dark and light dried fig (Ficus carica L.) varieties. The Journal of Phytopharmacology, 4, 41–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bachir, B. M., Louaileche, H., & Zemouri, S. (2013). Optimization of phenolic compound recovery and antioxidant of light and dark fig (Ficus carica L.) varieties. Food Science and Biotechnology, 22, 1613–1619. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-013-0258-7

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bachir, B. M., Meziant, L., Benchikh, Y., & Louaileche, H. (2014). Deployment of response surface methodology to optimize recovery of dried dark fig (Ficus carica L. var. Azenjar) total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity. International Food Research Journal, 21, 1477–1482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2014.04.054

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bachir, B. M., Richard, G., Meziant, L., Fauconnier, M. L., & Louaileche, H. (2016). Effects of sun-drying on physicochemical characteristics, phenolic composition and in vitro antioxidant activity of dark fig varieties. Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, 41, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpp.13164

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burda, S., Oleszek, W., & Lee, C. (1990). Phenolic compounds and their changes in apples during maturation and cold storage. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 38, 945–948.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Caliskan, O., & Polat, A. (2011). Phytochemical and antioxidant properties of selected fig (Ficus carica L.) accessions from ten eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey. Scientia Horticulturae, 128, 473–478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2011.02.023

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, S. K., Alasalvar, C., & Shahidi, F. (2016). Review of dried fruits: Phytochemicals, antioxidant efficacies, and health benefits. Journal of Functional Foods, 21, 113–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2015.11.034

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Crisosto, C. H., Bremer, V., Ferguson, L., & Crisosto, G. M. (2010). Evaluating quality attributes of four fresh fig (Ficus carica L.) cultivars harvested at two maturity stages. Hortscience, 45, 707–710.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Debib, A., Tir-Touili, A., Mothana, R. A., Meddah, B., & Sonnet, P. (2014). Phenolic content antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of two fruit varieties of Algerian Ficus carica. Journal of Food Biochemistry, 38, 207–215. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfbc.12039

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ersoy, N., Gozlekci, S., Gok, V., & Yilmaz, S. (2017). Fig (Ficus carica L.) fruit some physical and chemical properties. Acta Horticulturae, 1173, 329–334. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2017.1173.57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gharras, H. E. (2009). Polyphenols: Food sources, properties and applications-A review. International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 44, 2512–2518. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2621.2009.02077.x

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harzallah, A., Bhouri, A. M., Amri, Z., Soltana, H., & Hammami, M. (2016). Phytochemical content and antioxidant activity of different fruit parts juices of three figs varieties grown in Tunisia. Industrial Crops and Products, 83, 255–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2015.12.043

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hoxha, L., & Kongoli, R. (2016). Evaluation of antioxidant and potential of Albanian fig varieties “Kraps Zi” and “Kraps Bardhe” cultivated in the region of Tirana. Journal of Hygienic Engineering and Design, 16, 70–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jagtap, U. B., & Bapat, V. A. (2019). Exploring phytochemicals of Ficus carica L. (Fig). In H. Murthy & V. Bapat (Eds.), Bioactive compounds in underutilized fruits and nuts (Reference series in phytochemistry). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06120-3_19-1

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kamiloglu, S., & Capanoglu, E. (2013). Investigating the in vitro bioaccessibility of polyphenols in fresh and sun-dried figs (Ficus carica L.). International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 48, 2621–2629. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijfs.12258

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kamiloglu, S., & Capanoglu, E. (2015). Polyphenol content in figs (Ficus carica L.): Effect of sun drying. International Journal of Food Properties, 18, 521–535. https://doi.org/10.1080/10942912.2013.833522

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, J., Hayasaka, Y., Vidal, S., Waters, E., & Jones, G. (2001). Composition of grape peel proanthocyanidins at different stages of berry development. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 49, 5348–5355.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Khadivi, A., & Mirheidari, F. (2022). Selection of the promising fig (Ficus carica L.) accessions using fruit-related characters. Food Science & Nutrition, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsn3.2886

  • Khoo, H. E., Azlan, A., Tang, S. T., & Lim, S. M. (2017). Anthocyanidins and anthocyanins: Colored pigments as food, pharmaceutical ingredients, and the potential health benefits. Food & Nutrition Research, 61, 1361779. https://doi.org/10.1080/16546628.2017.1361779

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Konak, R., Kosoglu, I., & Yemenıcıoglu, A. (2017). Effects of different drying methods on phenolic content antioxidant capacity and general characteristics of selected Turkish fig cultivars. Acta Horticulturae, 1173, 335–340. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2017.1173.58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maghsoudlou, E., Kenari, R. E., & Amiri, Z. R. (2017). Evaluation of antioxidant activity of fig (Ficus carica) pulp and skin extract and its application enhancing stability of canola oil. Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, 41, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpp.13077

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meziant, L., Saci, F., Bachir Bey, M., & Louaileche, M. (2015). Varietal influence on biological properties of Algerian light figs (Ficus carica L.). International Journal of Bioinformatics & Biomedical Engineering, 1, 237–243.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nakilcioglu, E., & Hısıl, Y. (2013). Research on the phenolic compounds in Sarilop (Ficus carica L.) fig variety. The Journal of Food, 38, 267–274.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ouchemoukh, S., Hachoud, S., Boudraham, H., Mokrani, A., & Louaileche, H. (2012). Antioxidant activities of some dried fruits consumed in Algeria. Food Science and Technology, 49, 329–332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2012.07.022

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira, C., Lopez-Corrales, M., Serradilla, M. J., Del Carmen Villalobos, M., RuizMoyano, S., & Martín, A. (2017). Influence of ripening stage on bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity in nine fig (Ficus carica L.) varieties grown in Extremadura, Spain. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, 64, 203–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2017.09.006

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Russo, F., Caporaso, N., Paduano, A., & Sacchi, R. (2014). Phenolic compounds in fresh and dried figs from Cilento (Italy), by considering breba crop and full crop, in comparison to Turkish and Greek dried figs. Journal of Food Science, 79(7), C1278–C1284.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sedaghat, S., & Rahemi, M. (2018). Effects of physio-chemical changes during fruit development on nutritional quality of fig (Ficus carica L. var. ‘Sabz’) under rain-fed condition. Scientia Horticulturae, 237, 44–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2018.04.003

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shahidi, F., & Ambigaipalan, P. (2015). Phenolics and polyphenolics in foods, beverages and spices: Antioxidant activity and health effects- A review. Journal of Functional Foods, 18, 820–897. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2015.06.018

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Slatnar, A., Klancar, U., Stampar, F., & Veberic, R. (2011). Effect of drying of figs (Ficus carica L.) on the contents of sugars, organic acids and phenolic compounds. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 59, 11696–11702. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf202707y

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Solomon, A., Golubowicz, S., Yablowicz, Z., Grossman, S., Bergman, M., Gottlieb, H. E., et al. (2006). Antioxidant activities and anthocyanin content of fresh fruits of common fig (Ficus carica). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 54, 7717–7723. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf060497h

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vallejo, F., Marin, J. G., & Tomas-Barberan, F. A. (2012). Phenolic compound content of fresh and dried figs (Ficus carica L.). Food Chemistry, 130, 485–492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.07.032

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Veberic, R., Colaric, M., & Stampar, F. (2008). Phenolic acids and flavonoids of fig fruit (Ficus carica L.) in northern Mediterranean region. Food Chemistry, 106, 153–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2007.05.061

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vinson, J. A. (1999). The functional foods: Properties of figs. Cereal Foods World, 44, 82–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vinson, J. A., Zubik, L., Bose, P., Samman, N., & Proch, J. (2005). Dried fruits: Excellent in vitro and in vivo antioxidants. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 24, 44–50.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Viuda-Martos, M., Barber, X., Perez-Alvarez, J. A., & Fernandez-Lopez, J. (2015). Assessment of chemical, physico-chemical, techno-functional and antioxidant properties of fig (Ficus carica L.) powder co-products. Industrial Crops and Products, 69, 472–479. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2015.03.005

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Z., Cui, Y., Vainstein, A., Chen, S., & Ma, H. (2017). Regulation of fig (Ficus carica L.) fruit color: Metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. Frontiers in Plant Science, 8, 1990. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.01990

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Yemis, O., Bakkalbas, E., & Artık, N. (2012). Changes in pigment profile and surface colour of fig (Ficus carica L.) during drying. International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 47, 1710–1719. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2621.2012.03025.x

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

    Mohamed Fawzy Ramadan

Authors
  1. Mohamed Fawzy Ramadan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohamed Fawzy Ramadan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Nutrition Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

    Mohamed Fawzy Ramadan

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Ramadan, M.F. (2023). Chemistry and Nutritional Value of Fresh and Dried Fig (Ficus carica). In: Ramadan, M.F. (eds) Fig (Ficus carica): Production, Processing, and Properties. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16493-4_13

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation