EVALUATION OF ANTIFUNGAL EFFECTS OF PLANT LEAVES EXTRACTS ON ISOLATED RHIZOPUS SPECIES FROM SOIL

Mucormycetes are a group of fungi causing a serious infection called mucormycosis. These fungi live throughout the environment, particularly in soil than in the air. This fungus is severely spread among people who have weakened immune systems; breathing in these spores can cause severe infection in the lungs or sinuses, which can spread easily to other parts of the body. In the present work, Rhizopus species was isolated from soil and antifungal activity of different solvent extracts of young leaves of Carica papaya (Papaya), Citrus limon (lemon), Psidium guajava (guava) and Acalypha indica (Indian nettle) were tested against Rhizopus species using the disc diffusion method. It was observed that all four plant leaves exhibit positive activity against Rhizopus species. Ethanolic extract of Carica papaya leaves (75mg/ml) showed more potency with an inhibition zone of 20 ± 0.2 mm. Aqueous extracts (25mg/ml) of Acalypha indica leaves (7±0.2 mm) showed lowest zone of inhibition found in against Rhizopus species. Antifungal activity of aqueous, ethanol, and chloroform extracts of Citrus limon leaves and Psidium guajava leaves also were determined. The results showed that more potential antifungal activity is exhibited with ethanol extract of Carica papaya leaves (75mg/ml). The present study confirmed the presence of antifungal compounds in shade-dried ethanol extracts of Carica papaya leaves against isolated Rhizopus species from the soil.