Abstract
Article history: Aqueous and alcoholic extracts of endangered medicinal plants Balanites aegyptiaca Del. and Spilanthes acmella Murr. were evaluated for antifungal potential against various pathogenic and opportunistic fungi by in vitro agar well diffusion method. All the alcoholic extracts showed wide range of activity against the tested fungi as compared to aqueous extracts which showed limited antifungal activity. The alcoholic extract of fruit of B. aegyptiaca showed good antifungal activity against most of the tested Candida species and few opportunistic fungi, whereas, alcoholic extract of flower head of S. acmella showed good activity not only against Candida species but also against most of the tested Aspergillus species. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the alcoholic extracts were determined by broth microdilution method. The MIC of alcoholic extract of B. aegyptiaca and S. acmella against tested fungi ranged from 3.05 to 24.0µg/ml and 1.53 to 49.0 µg/ml respectively. The present study leads to conclusion that extracts of Balanites aegyptiaca and Spilanthes acmella contain good antifungal activity and thus could be used as alternative medicine in the treatment of various opportunistic and life threatening fungal infections especially in immunocompromised patients which otherwise pose problem of resistance to the currently used antifungal agents.
Highlights
The fungi cause opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients like those suffering from AIDS, cancer, diabetes, or undergoing treatment with immunosuppressive agents after transplant surgeries
Amongst the negative controls used, sterilized distilled water (DDW) did not show any zone of inhibition, whereas, absolute ethanol showed the zone of inhibition in the range of 0.00 to 8.67±0.33 mm
It is interesting to note that extracts of B. aegyptiaca effectively controlled the growth of most of the organisms which are important fungal pathogens responsible for causing opportunistic fungal infections in immune compromised patients especially those suffering from AIDS
Summary
The fungi cause opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients like those suffering from AIDS, cancer, diabetes, or undergoing treatment with immunosuppressive agents after transplant surgeries. Balanites aegyptiaca Del. an endangered medicinal plant belongs to family Zygophyllaceae. It is known as ‘desert date’ in English and ‘Hingoli’ in Hindi. The plant is a small evergreen thorny tree found in drier parts of India and Africa ( in Sudan). It grows to 6-10 m in height, is highly resistant to stresses such as sandstorms and heat waves, and grows with minimal available moisture. The trees produce date-like fruits between March and October
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