Antifungal Activity of Ziziphus mucronata and Erythrina abyssinica Bark Crude Extracts on Cryptococcus neofomans and Candida albicans Species

Aims: The study aims at extraction, characterization and identification of bioactive compounds with antifungal properties from the plant species E. abyssinica and Z. mucronata against Cyptococcal neoformans and Candida albicans.

Study Design: Phytochemical screening of crude plant extracts and determination of their minimum inhibitory concentration using Agar disc diffusion method.

Place and Duration of Study: Pharmaceutical Technology Lab, Harare Institute of Technology, February 2014 and May 2015.

Methodology: In this study crude bark extracts of Ziziphus mucronata and Erythrina abyssinica from Zimbabwe were test for antifungal activity using the disc diffusion method against Cryptococcus neoformans, Candida albicans with fluconazole as the positive control. Phytochemical screening tests on the crude extracts were carried out to identify phytoconstituents.

Results: Effective minimum inhibitory concentrations against C. albicans were found to be 20% w/v and 10%w/v for Ziziphus mucronata and showed moderate growth at a 5% w/v concentration. Erythrina abyssinica had effective minimum inhibitory concentrations at 25% w/v and 12.5% w/v with moderate fungal growth observed at 6.25% w/v. The same concentration ranges for both crude extracts showed similar antifungal activity for C. neoformans. Both crude bark extracts tested positive for tannins, saponins, flavonoids and alkaloids which contribute to the antifungal activity of the plant species.

Conclusion: Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans are the most common fungal species that cause opportunistic infections to occur in HIV and AIDS. The effects produced by these plants have proven that they can be used to develop pharmaceutical agents alleviate the symptoms associated with these infections. The crude plant extracts were found to be active against Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans. Both crude bark extracts tested positive for tannins, saponins, flavonoids and alkaloids which contribute to the antifungal activity of the plant species.