European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF ULVA SPECIES FROM THE KANNIYAKUMARI GULF OF MANNAR, SOUTH COAST INDIA

Gnanaprakasam Adaikala Raj, Manivachagam Chandrasekaran* Sakthivel Jegan and Venugopalan Venkatesalu

ABSTRACT

To investigate the in vitro antifungal activity of hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone and methanol extracts of Ulva lactuca Linn. U. fasciata Delile. and U. reticulata Forsk., against Candida albicans, C. krusei, C. guilliermondii, C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata, four dermatophytes viz., Trichophyton rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, Microsporum gypseum and Epidermophyton flocossum. The antifungal activity was evaluated by agar disc diffusion method, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Fungicidal Concentration (MFC). The mean zones of inhibition produced by the tested extracts in disc diffusion assays against fungal strains ranged from 7.1 to 14.0 mm. The MIC values were between 250 and 500 μg/ml, while the MFC values were between 500 and 1000 μg/ml. The highest mean zones of inhibition (14.0± 0.50 mm) was observed with ethyl acetate extract of U. lactuca against C. parapsilosis. The ethyl acetate extracts of U. lactuca, U. fasciata and U. reticulata showed the presence of phytochemicals, terpenoids, tannins and phenolic compounds strongly than the other extracts. The finding suggested that ethyl acetate extracts of U. lactuca, U. fasciata and U. reticulata exhibited an antifungal substance for the treatment of fungal infections.

Keywords: Ulva Species, phytochemical analyses, Antifungal activity, MIC.