INVESTIGATION ON BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISATION AND IN VITRO ANTIFUNGAL EFFICACY OF PLANT EXTRACTS ON MALASSEZIA FURFUR

Malassezia furfur, a lipophilic yeast belongs to the resident flora of human skin and has been responsible for the pathogenesis of several skin diseases such as dandruff, pityriasis versicolor, folliculitis, seborrhoeic dermatitis and some forms of atopic dermatitis. The synthetic drugs available were proved to be toxic and expensive when used in prolonged treatment. The present study was aimed to evaluate the inhibitory effects of ten plant extracts on M. furfur. The antifungal activity was assayed at various concentrations under in vitro conditions by radial agar disc diffusion assay and broth microdilution. The extracts which conferred antifungal activity were also tested for its active constituents using standard phytochemical tests. The strain was initially studied for biochemical properties such as, the presence of catalase, ability to use Tween 80 and splitting of esculin. Our studies revealed that hexane extract of Syzygium aromaticum L. showed highest activity with a Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of 0.390 mg mL -1 , followed by methanol extract of Lawsonia inermis L. with MIC 0.781 mg mL -1 . The results of phytochemical analysis of these two plants indicated the presence of tannins, quinones, glycosides, flavonoids and terpenoids. Following the preliminary phytochemical analysis, separation of the extracts on silica gel 60F254 plate was achieved through high performance thin layer chromatographic analysis, followed by scanning of the spots at 254 nm and 366 nm using a UV detection mode and derivatization was made to establish the phytochemical profile of these two plants. The hexane extract of S. aromaticum and methanolic extract of L. inermis have potential to be used as ideal anti-malassezial agents. The antifungal activity of these plants could be due to the presence of these detected metabolites and can be used directly or considered as a source for developing better anti-malassezial agents.