Herb library · Herb · Ficus carica
Fig
The fruit and leaf of the fig tree of the Middle East and Mediterranean. Dried figs were an official laxative and a classic poultice; fig leaf is brewed as a tea. The milky sap burns skin in sunlight.
Traditional use
King's American Dispensatory (1898) records dried figs as a gentle laxative for constipation and, roasted or boiled, as a poultice drawing gum boils and carbuncles to a head. Tristram (1898) wrote that the fig still kept its name in the Middle East as the best poultice, as in Isaiah's poultice of figs for King Hezekiah's boil, and Dafni and Böck (2019) count the fig among the five plants the Bible names directly as medicine. In Japan and elsewhere the leaves are brewed as a tea.
What studies show
- Limited
Mild eczema (atopic dermatitis): in a small 2022 randomized, placebo-controlled trial in Japan, adults who drank fig leaf tea had lower eczema severity scores than those given a placebo tea, and the effect faded four weeks after they stopped. It was a preliminary trial with few people.
- Insufficient
Constipation and poultices: no trial of figs alone in people was found; the studies of figs for constipation are in animals or used figs mixed with other foods.
Be careful of
Cautions
- AllergyThe milky sap of fig leaves, stems and unripe fruit contains compounds that make skin burn and blister in sunlight (phytophotodermatitis); wash sap off skin before going outdoors. Do not use fig leaves on the skin in the sun.
- AllergyAllergic reactions to eating figs have been reported; stop if your mouth itches or swells.
- PregnancyFigs as food are fine; no safety information was found for fig leaf tea in pregnancy or breastfeeding, so avoid it then.
- Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.
From the old books
What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.
“Figs are nutritive, emollient, demulcent, and aperient, and are used in costive habits, and to flavor gruels, decoctions, etc. Roasted or boiled, they may be applied as a suppurative poultice to gum-boils, buboes, carbuncles, etc.”
In scripture
Where the Bible names this plant, and which plant scholars think is meant.
Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover.”
The Hebrew teenah is the common fig, Ficus carica, the plant on this page; Tristram (1898) calls it one of the native fruit trees of the land and notes that the fig kept its reputation in the East as the best poultice, citing this verse. H. B. Tristram, The Natural History of the Bible (1898), pp. 350–353 (opens in a new tab)
Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves.
The Hebrew teenah is the common fig, Ficus carica, the plant on this page; Tristram (1898) notes it is the first tree named in Scripture, its large, tough leaves the first covering. H. B. Tristram, The Natural History of the Bible (1898), p. 350 (opens in a new tab)
Sources
- Efficacy and Safety of Fig (Ficus carica L.) Leaf Tea in Adults with Mild Atopic Dermatitis: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Preliminary Trial (Nutrients, 2022) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Fig Tree-Induced Phytophotodermatitis: A Case Report on the Perils of a Hobby (Cureus, 2023) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Adverse reaction to Ficus Carica: reported case of a possible cross-reactivity with Der p1 (2020) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Medicinal plants of the Bible-revisited (J Ethnobiol Ethnomed, 2019) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
Reviewed September 25, 2026.