Abstract

ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF TREMA ORIENTALIS BY IN-VITRO METHOD

Akshata N.*, Durga Priya N., Jayashree M., Jayasuriya R., Jeevandeep S. and Kiran Kumara P.

ABSTRACT

Medicinal plants are also called medicinal herbs. Plants synthesise hundreds of chemical compounds for functions including defence against fungi, diseases and herbivorous mammals. Fungal infections may be defined as primary or opportunistic. They can be localized i.e. limited to one region. e.g localized in a part of the skin, mouth or vaginal, or be invasive i.e. spread to multiple sites. Skin and nail bed infections are also described as ‘superficial’ while invasive and systemic infections are referred to as ‘deep infections’. Antifungal drugs are primarily used to combat infections in immune compromised individuals and post-transplantation. Three classes of antifungals currently in clinical use are polyenes, triazoles, and echinocandins. T. orientalis is a species of flowering tree in the hemp family, Cannabaceae. It is known by many common names, including charcoal-tree, Indian charcoal-tree, pigeonwood, Orientaltrema, and in Hawaii, where it has become naturalized, gunpowder tree, or nalita. Method: In-vitro screening by agar diffusion method was used to evaluate the antifungal effect of plant extract of T. orientalis. The zone of inhibition was measured using Penicillium spp. Results: The results of in-vitro antifungal activity of chloroform extract of T. orientalis was determined against penicillium spp, at different concentrations and zone of inhibition was found as clear function of concentrations. As the concentrations goes increase, the result of drug concentration increases simultaneously. The chloroform extract of T. orientalis showed better antifungal activity against penicillium spp, and zone of inhibition was measured. Conclusion: The result obtained in this study indicates that T. orientalis possess antifungal activity and indicates that it has potential as an effective herbal remedy for fungal infection.

Keywords: Antifungal activity, T. orentalis, Agar diffusion method, Penicillium spp, fungal infection.