Preliminary Anti-Fungal Activity of the Aqueous Bark Extract of Calotropis procera (ASCLEPIADACEAE).

Abstract

Background: Calotropis procera is a species of flowering plant which belongs to the Asclepiadaceous family. Its other names are Apple of Sodom, Giant Milkweed and Swallow-wort. It's native to Africa and Asian countries where they exist as a spreading shrub or small tree with height of about 4m. They. exude copious milky sap when cut or broken. It has a broad grey-green leaves with a pointed tip, two rounded basal lobes and no leaf stalk. Their flowers are waxy white. The different part of this plant has been used for different medicinal purposes such as cure of leprosy, eczema, inflammation, cutaneous infections, syphilis, malarial and low hectic fevers, and as abortifacient.

Objective: The extract of the bark of the plant Calotropis procera used locally by people in Sokoto to treat ringworm infection was investigated for the claimed activity by subjecting the extract collected to both phytochemical and antifungal screening.

Methods: The extracts of water, n-hexane, petroleum ether and chloroform of the bark of the plant Calotropis procera were evaluated for the presence of alkaloids, tannins, glycosides, saponins, steroids and flavonoids. And the water extract which is often used by the local people was tested for antifungal activity using Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) in Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method developed by Kirby et al. Fulcin tablet was used as a standard and two petridishes that does not contain the extracts were used as control.

Results: In the phytochemical study using extracts of n-hexane, petroleum ether, chloroform and water, the presence of alkaloids, tannins, saponins and steroids (cardiac glycoside) were confirmed. Also, for the antifungal activity of the plant, there was a complete inhibition of Microsporum specie and Trichophyton specie in the sample after 10 days of inoculation when water extract at different concentrations (i.e. 20 mg/L, 30 mg/L and 40 mg/L) were applied. The tablet only completely inhibited Trichophyton specie. Epidermophyton specie was not found in the sample. The inhibitory effect of this extract was significant (p < 0.05) when compared with fulcin tablet.

Conclusion: The research confirmed that the extract of the bark of the plant Calotropis procera has some antifungal activity.