Evidence-based antifungal potential of some traditional medicinal plants, from the Bechar region (Southwest Algeria)

The development of more effective and less toxic antifungal agents is required for the treatment of several ailments. In this research, the antifungal activity of the crude aqueous and hydromethanolic extracts of nine medicinal plant, frequently used in the local traditional medicine in the Bechar region (southwest Algeria), was evaluated, using the radial growth method on solid medium, against seven fungal pathogens isolated from local wheat, toasted and green Coffee beans. The results of the antifungal potency revealed that the hydromethanolic extract of Rhus tripartita and the aqueous extract of Traganum nudatum were the best to suppress the growth of Aspergillus nidulans (77 and 66% respectively), followed by the hydromethanolic extract of Haloxylon scoparia red (63%). Whereas, the aqueous extract of Traganum nudatum was found to be the best to inhibit the growth of Penicillium oxalicum (60%) compared to the other extracts. Lesser activities were recorded for the hydromethanolic extract of Andropogon nardus (0%) and the aqueous extract of Globularia vulgaris (1%) against Aspergillus nidulans and Aspergillus ochracus respectively. The selected plant extracts can serve as potential sources of new antifungal agents that may be of great use for the development of pharmaceutics against various diseases

Evidence-based antifungal potential of some traditional medicinal plants, from the Bechar region (Southwest Algeria)

68-73The development of more effective and less toxic antifungal agents is required for the treatment of several ailments. In this research, the antifungal activity of the crude aqueous and hydromethanolic extracts of nine medicinal plant, frequently used in the local traditional medicine in the Bechar region (southwest Algeria), was evaluated, using the radial growth method on solid medium, against seven fungal pathogens isolated from local wheat, toasted and green Coffee beans. The results of the antifungal potency revealed that the hydromethanolic extract of Rhus tripartita and the aqueous extract of Traganum nudatum were the best to suppress the growth of Aspergillus nidulans (77 and 66% respectively), followed by the hydromethanolic extract of Haloxylon scoparia red (63%). Whereas, the aqueous extract of Traganum nudatum was found to be the best to inhibit the growth of Penicillium oxalicum (60%) compared to the other extracts. Lesser activities were recorded for the hydromethanolic extract of Andropogon nardus (0%) and the aqueous extract of Globularia vulgaris (1%) against Aspergillus nidulans and Aspergillus ochracus respectively. The selected plant extracts can serve as potential sources of new antifungal agents that may be of great use for the development of pharmaceutics against various diseases

Screening of some plant materials used in South-West Algerian traditional medicine for their antibacterial activity

The initial introduction of new medicinal agents into the health care system sometimes, requires information beyond that is recorded in libraries relying instead, on reports available through traditions and healers within a society. This paper explored the antibacterial activity of aqueous and hydromethanolic extracts of nine folkloric medicinal plant from Bechar region (southwest Algeria) namely: A. nardus, A. schoenanthus, G. vulgaris, two species of H. scoparia green & red, P. laevigata, R. tripartita, T. gallica and T. nudatum, frequently used in the local traditional medicine. The antibacterial activity of different extracts were evaluated by using disc diffusion method agar and antibiotics susceptibility of ten selected microorganisms: seven reference strains, Bacillus cereus, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, and three clinically isolated strains, Escherichia coli (Urinary Tract Infection), Escherichia coli (Vaginal Infection) and Staphylococcus aureus (Skin Infection).The maximum antibacterial activity was recorded against the gram negative reference strains Pseudomonas aeruginosaand Escherichia coli with a maximum inhibition diameter of 15.6 ± 0.5 and 15.0 ± 1.4 mm respectively displayed by the aqueous extract of T. gallica, followed by the activity detected by the hydromethanolic extract of R. tripartita against the gram negative reference strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa (14.6±1.2 mm) and the aqueous and hydromethanolic extracts of R. tripartita against the gram negative reference strains Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli with a maximum inhibition diameter of 14.3 ± 2.0 and 14.3±0.5 mm, respectively.According to the present study, H. scoparia red, P. laevigata, R. tripartita, and T. gallicacan be served as broad spectrum antibiotic and used as a potent source of natural antibacterial agents by replacing commercially available synthetic drug that may have a large number of side effects