Abstract

ANTIFUNGAL PROPERTIES AND CURATIVE EFFECT OF VERNONIA AMYGDALINA LAEF EXTRACTS AND CITRUS AURANTIFOLIA JUICE ON JOCK ITCH INFECTION

Ihejieto H. A.*, Anyanwu C. N., Aigbe M. I. and Onwusonye J. C.

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the antifungal activity of various ratios of Vernonia amygdalina Crude leaves extract and Citrus aurantifolia juice on jock itch infection. The fungus Trichophyton rubrum was predominantly isolated from swab samples collected from jock itch patients, suggesting it is the main causative agent of this infection amongst other factors. This fungus was subjected to susceptibility tests using the standard Agar-disc diffusion assay method. The two plant samples were tested individually as samples A and B representing V. amygdalina and C. aurantifolia, respectively. Various combinations / ratios obtained from the stock samples, denoted as samples C (1:1), D (1:2), E (2:1), F (1:3) and G (3:1) were also tested against the fungus. The results showed that the inhibition zone diameter elicited by V. amygdalina against the fungus measured 8mm while that of C. aurantifolia measured 19mm. the various ratios of the mixtures represented as C, D, E, F and G measured 13mm, 23mm, 15mm, 30mm and 17mm respectively. The results suggest that C. aurantifolia juice is more effective against the fungus than V. amygdalina Crude leaves extract when used individually; but in synergy, ratio 1:3 had the highest inhibition zone diameter of 30mm suggesting that both plant samples are more effective when combined especially with higher quantities of C. aurantifolia.

Keywords: Antifungal, Vernonia amygdalina, Citrus aurantifolia, Jock itch.