Screening of in vitro antifungal activity of some indian medicinal plants against candida albicans and cryptococcus neoformans

The present investigation evaluates the anti-Candida albicans and anti-Cryptococcus neoformans activity of different extracts of thirty plants belonging to 16 families. Standard agar disc diffusion method was employed for determination of antifungal activity and standard two fold broth dilution methods was used for determination of the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimal fungicidal concentration (MFC). The test strain Cryptococcus neoformans used in the present study exhibited complete resistance to antifungal drugs clotrimazole and itriconozole. The result of the present study revealed that extracts of Acacia catechu, Acacia ferruginea, Adenanthera pavonia, Albizia amara, Caesalpinia coriaria, Decalepis hamiltonii, Holoptelea integrifolia, Prosopis juliflora, Samanea saman and Solanum indicum showed promising antifungal activity. The best antifungal activity was observed in toluene extract of A. pavonia and C. coriaria, chloroform extract of A. amara and methanol extract of P. juliflora and S. saman with zone of inhibition ranging from 9.2mm to 18.9mm against C. albicans and 10.5mm to 24.5mm against C. neoformans at 1mg/disc. The MIC and MFC values ranging from 0.125mg/ml to 0.5mg/ml and 1mg/ml to >2mg/ml against C. albicans and 0.0312mg/ml to 0.25mg/ml and 0.5mg/ml to 2mg/ml against C. neoformans respectively. The subsequent fractionation and phytochemical analysis confirmed that alkaloid fraction of A. amara, P. juliflora and S. saman and steroid fraction of A. pavonia and C. coriaria responsible for antifungal activity. Further investigations are required to identify active compounds responsible for activity and toxicological study using animal models before clinical application.