Antimycotic and phytochemical screening of the fruit pulp extract of Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) on Can-dida albicans
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Date
2016
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Abstract
Objective: To determine the antimycotic potency of the aqueous and ethanolic extract of the fruit pulp of Tamarindus indica on human pathogenic Candida al-bicans. Methods: The disk diffusion method was employed to check for the antimycotic potency of extracts while qualitative and quantitative analysis of some phyto-chemical constituents was carried out following stand-ard methods. Results: The fruit pulp extracts were effective against the organism at 475 and 485 mg/ml in the aqueous and ethanolic extract respectively. The same concentration served as the Minimum Inhibitory and Minimum Fun-gicidal Concentration (MIC and MCC) in both extracts. The extracts were also subjected to qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis. Alkaloids, tan-nins and reducing sugars were found in the ethanol ex-tract while in the aqueous extract glycosides, saponins and reducing sugars were discovered to be present. Conclusions: The study indicated that aqueous and eth-anolic extracts of the fruit pulp of T. indica can be a potential source of antimycotic agent to combat the challenge of the emergence of drug-resistance in Can-dida albicans and the need to produce more effective antimicrobial agents.