A Study of Folklore Antifungal Medicinal Herbs among the Tribal Groups of Western Ghats, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu

Background: The present study has been carried out to explore antifungal property of folklore medicinal herbs Solanum trilobatum, Spathodea campanulata, Syzygium jambos and Tylophora indica prevalent among the tribal communal in the Western Ghats of Coimbatore district. Materials and Methods: The aqueous and organic leaf extracts obtained by cold maceration method was confirmed for its antifungal activity against Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus fumigatus by agar plate dilution method. Results: The methanolic extracts of S. trilobatum, S. jambos and T. indica exhibited substantial (p<0.001) fungal growth inhibition against A. flavus with IC50 values 40.63, 94.56 and 84.52 µg/mL respectively. The ethanolic extracts of S. trilobatum, S. campanulata, S. jambos and T. indica also revealed (p<0.01) inhibitory activity against A. flavus with IC50 values ranging between 102.34-146.79 µg/mL, whereas the S. campanulata methanolic and chloroform fractions of S. jambos influenced mycelial inhibition against A. flavus with a IC50 values at 147.92 and 111.08 µg/mL respectively. Furthermore, the methanolic extracts of S. campanulata exposed highly significant antifungal activity against A. fumigatus, (p<0.001) with IC50 value at 95.3 µg/mL. Analogous antifungal significances were also observed among methanolic extracts of S. jambos and T. indica against A. fumigatus with IC50 values at 131.52 and 114.51 µg/mL respectively. The other extracts were not up to the pronounceable level of fungal growth control against the two fungal strains used in the assay. Conclusion: The alcoholic leaf extracts of selected plants were more active against tested fungal strains when compared to the chloroform and aqueous extracts. Further surveys and findings have to be fixed to recognize the antifungal metabolites present in the chosen herbs.