Therapeutic potentials of littoral vegetation: an antifungal perspective

Abstract Mangroves, the littoral vegetation of the tropical and subtropical areas of the world, are of immense importance to the people living in coastal areas. Apart from being a vital source of livelihood and economic support to the people living by seashores, these trees also have medicinal value. The salt-tolerant trees are known to contain huge quantities of saponins, steroids, triterpenes, alkaloids, flavonoids, and tannins. These bioactive compounds impart therapeutic values and thus are used against various infectious diseases. Because of the promising biological activities of the compounds, the extracts of mangroves are used in folklore medicines. Hence, in this chapter an attempt has been made to explore the therapeutic potentials of the products derived from mangroves with special emphasis on their antifungal properties in order to draw attention toward the exploration of this category of vegetation.