EVALUATION OF ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF CALOTROPIS GIGANTEA LATEX EXTRACT: AN IN VITRO STUDY

Medicinal plants are important source of potentially useful structures for the development of novel chemotherapeutic agents. The present study was aimed to evaluate the antifungal effect of partially purified C. gigantea latex extract on some human pathogenic fungi. Ethanolic extract of the latex were tested in vitro against fungi strains. The inhibitory effect was assessed by disc diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) were also determined by serial dilution method. The ethanolic extract was subjected to qualitative phytochemical screening for the presence of bioactive ingredients. The ethanolic extract shows the presence of many biologically active molecules such as flavonoids, alkaloids, triterpenoids, steroids, saponins, phenols and glycosides. The latex extract shows significant zone of inhibition in dose dependent manner. The MIC and MFC values of latex extract against fungal strains varies from 1 mg to 8 mg and the results are comparable with Amphotericin B. From this study, we conclude that the latex extract possesses potent fungicidal activity which may be due to the presence of biologically active ingredients with antimicrobial activity in the ethanolic extract of C. gigantea latex.