Background/Aim:Some of the antifungal drugs used in the current treatments regime are responding to antimicrobial resistance. In rural areas of Southern Tanzania, indigenous people use antifungal drugs alone or together with medicinal plants to curb the effects of antibiotic resistance. This study documented ethnobotanical information of medicinal plants used for managing fungal infections in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania and further assess their safety.Materials and Methods:Ethnobotanical survey was conducted in Makete and Mufindi districts between July 2014 and December 2015 using semi-structured questionnaires followed by two focus group discussions to verify respondents’ information. Cytotoxicity study was conducted on extracts of collected plants using brine shrimp lethality test and analyzed by MS Excel 2013 program.Results:During this survey about 46 plant species belonging to 28 families of angiosperms were reported to be traditionally useful in managing fungal and other health conditions. Among these, Terminalia sericea, Aloe nutii, Aloe lateritia, Zanthoxylum chalybeum, Zanthoxylum deremense, and Kigelia africana were frequently mentioned to be used for managing fungal infections. The preparation of these herbals was mostly by boiling plant parts especially the leaves and roots. Cytotoxicity study revealed that most of the plants tested were nontoxic with LC50 > 100 which implies that most compounds from these plants are safe for therapeutic use. The dichloromethane extract of Croton macrostachyus recorded the highest with LC50 value 12.94 µg/ml. The ethnobotanical survey correlated well with documented literature from elsewhere about the bioactivity of most plants.Conclusions:The ethnobotanical survey has revealed that traditional healers are rich of knowledge to build on for therapeutic studies. Most of the plants are safe for use; and thus can be considered for further studies on drug discovery.

Parinari curatellifolia (Chrysobalanaceae) and Terminalia sericea (Combretaceae) have been traditionally used in Southern Highlands of Tanzania for treatment of various infectious disorders. The present study aimed to evaluate antifungal activity of the isolated  compounds from Parinari curatellifolia and Terminalia sericea plant species. The ethyl acetate extract of the root barks from Parinari curatellifolia and Terminalia sericea were fractionated using column chromatography. The structures of compounds were established using both 1D and 2D-NMR spectroscopic techniques while antifungal activities of the fractions and isolated compounds were evaluated using broth microdilution assay against Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans and Aspergillus niger species. Two known compounds toddalolactone (1) and 10-hydroxy-13-methoxy-9- methyl-15-oxo-20-norkaur-16-en-18-oic acid -lactone (2) from P. curatellifolia and two compounds Sericic acid (3) and sericoside (4) from T. sericea were isolated and their structures identified and confirmed by spectral data obtained and from the literatures. Strong antifungal activity was shown by Sericic acid (3) with MIC value of0.07 mg/ml against C. albicans and C. neoformans. Isolation of toddalolactone (1) from Parinari curatellifolia as well as the antifungal activity of Sericic acid (3) from Terminalia sericea is being reported for the first time. Bioactivity of these compounds support traditional use of the studied plants. Keywords: Sericic acid, toddalolactone, fungi, antifungal, Parinari curatellifolia, Terminalia sericea.

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