Anti-fungal Activities of Aqueous and Organic Extracts of Prosopis Cineraria.

Author(s) : Shaista Jameel, Aamir Sharif, Muhammad Akram, Tahira Tabassum, Saeed Ahmad & Idrees Khan

Abstract:

Abstract
Objective:
To study the antifungal activities of aqueous and organic extracts of Prosopis cineraria against selected fungal strains including Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans.
Material and Methods:
Prosopis cineraria extracts were prepared using different solvents including water, methanol, ethyl acetate and n-hexane. Disc diffusion method was used to study the antifungal activities of prepared extracts. The extracts were tested for antifungal activities at different concentrations i.e., 75, 50, 25, 12.6, 6.5, 2.9 and 1.8 µg/mL. Inhibition zones of tested concentrations of extracts were compared with fluconazole (standard drug) for their antifungal activities.
Results:
Significant antifungal activity of Ethyl acetate extract was seen against the Candida albicans at the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) 2.9 µg/mL, for methanolic extract MIC was 12.6 µg/mL. For the n-hexane and aqueous extracts no MIC was seen against Candida albicans. P. cineraria didn’t show any significant activity against the Aspergillus niger strain.
Conclusion:
P. cineraria expressed promising antifungal activity against Candida albicans. Further phytochemical analysis is required to identify the biologically active constituents which may lead towards the development of new novel antifungal drugs.

Key Words: Prosopis cineraria, Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, Antifungal activity