Evaluation of antifungal activities of extracts of some medicinal plants on Neurospora Crassa

Abstract

Antifungal activity was investigated using the leaf extracts of five different medicinal plants namely, Ocimum sanctum Linn., Coccinia cordifolia (Linn.) Cogn, Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Wall., Centella asiatica (Linn.) Urban., Azadirachta indica A. Juss. against two fungi Neurospora crassa and Helminthosporium oryzae. The in vitro study revealed the presence of antifungal activity against Neurospora crassa in the leaf extracts of all the plants used during the study. The non sterilized leaf extracts was more effective than sterilized leaf extracts. The antifungal effect of these plant extracts enhanced gradually with the application of increased concentration and best antifungal activity was observed in the leaf extracts of Azadirachta indica A. Juss. as compared to all the tested plants. It inhibited the radial growth of both Neurospora crassa and Helminthosporium oryzae at 25% concentration. Antifungal activity was observed in the proteins present in the proteins of third fraction after (NH4)2SO4 gradient centrifugation and 200 µg of the total proteins of this fraction was found effective in controlling the fungal growth in vitro. Two proteins of the third fraction e.g., 40 and 37 kDa were found to be effective to control the fungal radial growth of both the Neurospora crassa and Helminthosporium oryzae.