Antifungal and antioxidant activities of Coleonema album and C. pulchellum against skin diseases

Olufunke O Fajinmi,Jiří Grúz,Petr Tarkowski,Manoj G Kulkarni,Jeffrey F Finnie,Johannes Van Staden

doi:10.1080/13880209.2017.1296470

Abstract

Context: Coleonema album (Thunb) Bart. & H. L. Wendl (Rutaceae) has been used in the formulation of skincare products, and the Khoisan people rub it on their skin to add luster. Coleonema pulchellum I. Williams has received less attention in the South African traditional medicine.Objective: This study investigates the antifungal and antioxidant activities of C. album and C. pulchellum essential oil (EO) and leaf extracts; and analyzes the chemical components of their EOs.Materials and methods: Antifungal activity of leaf extracts was determined using the microdilution method with griseofulvin and ketoconazole as controls. Antifungal capacity of EO was investigated using the ‘Volatile release plate method’. Trichophyton rubrum (ATCC 28188) and T. mentagrophytes (ATCC 9533) mycelia (0.3 cm diameter) were placed on fresh yeast malt agar in Petri dishes with filter paper (impregnated with 20 μL of EO) on the lid for direct exposure to EO volatiles while plates without EO were used as controls. The incubation time was seven days. Antioxidant activities of the leaf extracts were determined.Results: Methanol leaf extract of C. pulchellum inhibited the growth of three fungi tested with MIC values of 195, 391 and 49 μg/mL for Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Microsporum gypseum, respectively. Terpenes formed the major components of the EO. The EO from both plants inhibited the growth of T. rubrum in vitro.Discussion and conclusion: This study revealed the therapeutic value of C. pulchellum. Coleonema album and C. pulchellum should be considered as potential plants for skin ointment from natural origin.

Highlights

Fungal infections of the skin and nails represent a major group of mycoses (Havlickova et al 2008) and are among the most common skin disease manifestation in HIV/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients
The essential oil (EO) of both species is rich in terpenes which have been reported in literature to exhibit antifungal activity
The EO of both plant species can be combined to formulate an effective antifungal ointment that can combat skin diseases associated with T. rubrum

Summary

Introduction

Fungal infections of the skin and nails represent a major group of mycoses (Havlickova et al 2008) and are among the most common skin disease manifestation in HIV/AIDS patients. They can occur at any stage of the disease and some of the dermatoses are unique to HIV infection while others are common conditions, which occur in HIV-negative individuals (National Aids and STI Control Program 2008). Microsporum gypseum is a geophillic dermatophyte, which is rarely isolated from skin lesions of immunocompromised patients (Bhagra et al 2013). The most common skin disorder identified in HIV/AIDS individuals is fungal infection (Tse 2007)

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