Abstract

Crude ethanolic extract of Avicennia marina leaves was tested against seven allergenic fungi viz., Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Cladosporium herbarum, Penicillium notatum andSaccharomyces cerevisiae using five different solvents: dimethyl sulphoxide(DMSO), distilled water (DW), chloroform, ethanol and acetone at 2000, 4000 and 6000 ppm doses. Dose dependent tendency in the increase or decrease in the growth of fungi was observed. Two synthetic drugs miconazole and amphotericin-B were used as positive control. Miconazole was 100% effective against A. alternata, C. herbatum, P. notatum and S. cerevisiae with the concentrations of 95.00 ± 1.62, 78.00 ± 4.99, 100.00 ± 0.69 and 110.00 ± 2.33 (µg/ml of SDA medium), respectively. Amphotericin-B completely controlled the growth of A. flavus, A. fumigatus and A. niger in the concentration of 24.00 ± 17.00, 30.00 ± 15.66 and 18.00 ± 18.34 (µg/ml of SDA medium), respectively. Distilled water and DMSO were considered to be the most effective solvents preventing 83.00 ± 4.73% growth of A. niger, 80.33 ± 5.60% A. flavus, 78.58 ± 3.18% A. alternata, 72.91 ± 7.96% P. notatum, 65.25 ± 3.55% C. herbarum, 63.25 ± 4.52% A. fumigatus and 48.5 ± 7.89% S. cerevisiae. Statistically, the results were compared with negative control and found to be highly significant (p<0.01).

Key words: Allergenic fungi, inhibition, dose dependent, growth control, synthetic drugs.