Abstract

Three medicinal plant (Milletia laurentii, Tephrosia vogelii, Croton macrostachyus) extracts traditionally used in Cameroon to manage infectious diseases, were chosen and screened for their phytochemicals composition, antioxidant properties and antifungal activity againstTrichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton soudanense and Trichophyton violaceum. Plant powders were extracted by maceration in methanol and water. Afforded extracts were studied for their: phytochemical composition using indicators, antioxidant activity using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging methods and antifungal activity using the agar dilution methods. Extraction yield were better with methanol than water for all the medicinal plants. Amongst the 11 phytochemical compounds (alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids, triterpenoids, saponines, anthraquinones, tannins, anthocyanins, coumarins, essential oils, steroids, glycosides, lipids) tested, 9 were differently present in relative high amount in extracts, while glycosides and steroids were absent in all plant extracts. Aqueous extracts of T. vogelli showed the best antioxidant activity while methanolic extract of C. macrostachyus showed the lowest with IC₅₀ values of 0.30 and 0.11 mg/ml, respectively.M. laurentii showed IC₅₀ of 0.19 and 0.21 mg/ml for aqueous and methanolic extracts, respectively. All the extracts tested showed significant activity against the threeTricophyton species tested, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFC) varying from 17.50 to 27.50 and 20 to 30 mg/ml, respectively. These findings support the continued sustainable screen of medicinal plants as source of bioactive principles.

Key words: Medicinal plant, phytochemical screening, antifungal, antioxidant.