Indian medicinal plants: a potential source for anticandidal drugs

Alcoholic and aqueous crude extracts of 37 traditionally- used medicinal plants were screened for antifungal activity against the pathogenic yeast, Candida albicans, and dermatophytes, Epidermophyton floccosum, Microsporum gypseum and Trichophyton rubrum. Alcoholic extracts of these 37 plants were demonstrated to have antifungal activity. Twenty-one extracts showed strong activity and the remaining 16 plants exhibited moderate activity against Candida albicans and to one or more dermatophytes. Such activity was detected in only 16 aqueous extracts. Alcoholic extracts of five medicinal plants were selected for further studies on the basis of their strong anticandidal activity. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)values of these five extracts revealed their varied anticandidal potency. MIC values ranged between 4-9 mg/ml. Comparatively high potency was observed in the extracts of Plumbago zeylanica (4mg/ml)followed by Terminalia bellirica and Phyllanthus emblica (7 mg/ml), each Holarrhena antidysentrica (8 mg/ml), and least in Terminalia chebula (9 mg/ml). Preliminary phytochemical analysis of these extracts showed the presence of many biologically active constituents.