The anti-fungal potential of herbal medicines

Researchers from the University of Malakand in Pakistan looked at the antibacterial and anti-fungal potential of three plants used in traditional herbal therapies in the region. Their findings were published in the journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

• The team investigated the antibacterial and antifungal potentials of Eryngium caeruleum (eryngo), Notholirion thomsonianum (rosy Himalayan lily), and Allium consanguineum (dunna) to validate their reported therapeutic properties against other infectious diseases.
• To determine their antibacterial properties, the researchers used bacterial strains from Enterococcus faecalis, Proteus mirabilis, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Klebsiella pneumonia, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
• They used Muller-Hinton agar media dilution method to analyze the antifungal activity of the plant samples. Fungal strains used include Aspergillis fumigatus, A. flavus, and A. niger.
• Standard drugs used in the antibacterial and antifungal assays were ceftriaxone and nystatin, respectively.
• Five bacterial strains were tested against fractions of N. thomsonianum, while both A. consanguineum and E. caeruleum were tested against six. The results indicated that all samples exhibited significant antibacterial activity, with chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions being the most potent among the samples.
• N. thomsonianum displayed the strongest antibacterial and antifungal activity among the three plants.
• In terms of antifungal activity, the chloroform fraction showed MFCs of 175.67 ± 5.20***, 29.33 ± 5.48*** and 63.00 ± 4.93*** micrograms per milliliter (mcg/mL) against A. fumigatus, A. flavus and A. niger, respectively.

In sum, the researchers concluded that all three plant species exhibited potential antifungal and antibacterial activities.

Read the full study at this link.

Find other plants that have anti-fungal properties at Herbs.news.

Journal Reference:

Sadiq A, Ahmad S, Ali R, Ahmad F, Ahmad S, Zeb A, Ayaz M, Ullah F, Siddique AN. ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIFUNGAL POTENTIALS OF THE SOLVENTS EXTRACTS FROM ERYNGIUM CAERULEUM, NOTHOLIRION THOMSONIANUM AND ALLIUM CONSANGUINEUM. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 24 November 2016;16(478). DOI: 10.1186/s12906-016-1465-6