Abstract

ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF LEAVES, FLOWER, SEEDS AND TUBERS EXTRACTS OF GLORIOSA SUPERBA LINN.

Dr. Mariappan Senthilkumar

ABSTRACT

The present study deals with the antifungal activity of hexane, petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, ethanol and water extracts of the Leaves, flowers, seeds and tubers of Gloriosa superba Linn. (Liliaceae) using disc diffusion method against human pathogens, such as Apergillus flavus, Apergillus fumigates, Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans Candida glabrata and Candida tropicalis. In the present investigation all the extracts were found to be effective against four human fungal species. The maximum inhibition was observed on Apergillus fumigates (37.5 mm) ethanol extract for tuber and followed by Aspergillus niger (33.4 mm), Candida albicans (30.2 mm), Aspergillus flavus (29.6 mm) and Candida glabrata (27.6 mm). The minimum inhibition was observed on Microsporium gypseum (21.9 mm). The water extract of tuber also showed the promising antifungal activity against to all tested fungal cultures. The tuber extract of G.superba showed higher inhibitory effect than seeds, leaves and flowers. This kind of study could generate more such ideas for re-inventing and using herbs in combination to treat many more diseases.

Keywords: Antifungal activity, Gloriosa superba, Human pathogens.