Eden Apothecary · Herb Profile
Ficus carica
Pronounced Fig (FIG); Ficus carica (FY-kus KAIR-ih-kuh)
A sweet, moist, temperate demulcent: it softens dryness and constriction, moistening the dry bowel and parched throat while gently nourishing the depleted.
On temperature, the old sources disagree: Gerard (1633) reads it as warm; Culpeper (1653) and Bencao Gangmu (1596) read it as neutral. The app keeps neutral, the modern reading of what the herb does in the body; the old readings are shown here but do not change it.
Fig fruit is a food and is regarded as safe in normal dietary amounts in pregnancy; dried figs are a traditional gentle remedy for the constipation of pregnancy. Concentrated fig-leaf and raw-latex medicinal preparations are not established as safe (the leaf has documented blood-glucose-lowering activity and the latex is a proteolytic irritant with a folk emmenagogue reputation), so therapeutic leaf and latex use should be avoided. Food form: safe; medicinal leaf/latex: insufficient data, avoid. No dedicated NCCIH or AHPA monograph establishes therapeutic-dose safety.
Fig fruit as food is compatible with breastfeeding in normal dietary amounts. No lactation data exist for medicinal fig-leaf or latex preparations, so therapeutic doses are best avoided while nursing (insufficient data). Fig is a recognized food allergen. Source: no LactMed or NCCIH monograph; food-safety by long common use.
Fig fruit and fig syrup are gentle and have long been given to children as a mild laxative and a demulcent for dry cough and sore throat; use ordinary food amounts. Keep the raw latex and leaf off children's skin (phototoxic and irritant) and avoid concentrated leaf decoctions (marked glucose-lowering effect). Source: traditional pediatric use (Grieve 1931); fig phytophotodermatitis case reports.
Rich in fermentable sugars and fiber; large amounts are strongly laxative and can cause loose stools, gas, and bloating. Dried figs are high in sugar, relevant in diabetes. The fresh latex and leaf are irritating and phototoxic: the furocoumarins (psoralen, bergapten) can cause severe phytophotodermatitis on sun-exposed skin. Fig is a recognized food allergen.
Known fig or weeping-fig (Ficus benjamina) allergy, and caution in those with multiple protease-fruit allergies (kiwi, papaya, pineapple, banana, avocado). Do not apply fresh latex or leaf to skin that will be exposed to sunlight. Avoid the laxative fruit in active diarrhea.
Ficus carica is a widely cultivated, non-threatened orchard and dooryard tree with no conservation concern. Prefer organically grown, unsulphured dried figs; harvest leaves and latex with gloves and sun protection because of the phototoxic sap.
Prominent throughout Scripture: the fig leaf covering (Genesis 3:7); the fig as emblem of peace and plenty, every man under his vine and fig tree (1 Kings 4:25; Micah 4:4); the cake of figs laid on King Hezekiah's boil, a direct materia-medica reference (2 Kings 20:7; Isaiah 38:21); the barren fig tree (Matthew 21:19; Mark 11:13) and the parable of the fig tree (Luke 13:6-9). Also documented as food and medicine by Dioscorides and Pliny.
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