Background: Azithromycin, being a very important antibiotic, is manufactured by different pharmaceutical companies and available in numerous brands. Therefore, it requires a quantitative evaluation and assessment of tablets chemical, physical and bioavailability properties.Methods: The physicochemical quality pararametrs like weight variation, size, hardness, friability, disintegration time and dissolution profile of three brands of azithromycin tablets were assessed by performing various test procedures according to established methods.Results: The different brands of tablets showed very slight variations in weight and size, not exceeding more than 5% of standard value. Similarly, hardness of all the brands was less than 5kg/f and friability ranged from 0.2 to 0.5%. All the brands tested disintegrated in <6 minutes and all the brands released >75% of the active ingredient within 45 minutes.Conclusions: All the physiochemical quality parameters of three brands of azithromycin tablets were found to be within the pharmacopeial specifications therefore all the brands were pharmaceutically and chemically equivalent and can be freely interchanged.

Eight lichens were collected, identified and solvent extract were obtained using methanol and ethyl acetate in soxhlet apparatus. Antifungal properties of lichens were determined by Agar well diffusion method, Microdilution assay and TLC-Bioautographic technique. The largest zone of inhibition in well diffusion method was recorded (in mm) with the ethyl acetate extract of Parmotrema tinctorum with 18.6±1.15 followed by Teloschistes flavicans with 18.6±0.5. The maximum antifungal activity was found in the extracts of lichen Parmotrema tinctorum and Flavoparmelia caperata with low MIC value of 1.562mg/ml. Flavoparmelia caperata extract was active with a clear zone on TLC bioautogram of the tested organism indicating two zones of growth inhibition at an Rf value of 0.46, 0.6. Comparatively ethyl acetate extract showed a strong antifungal activity than methanolic extract. The results were promising with potential drug candidate having a fungitoxic effect to reinforce bioprospecting of lichens as a bio-fungicide.

The antagonistic potential of Trichoderma strains was assayed by studying the effect of their culture filtrate on the radial growth of Sclerotium rolfsii, the causal agent of chickpea collar rot. Trichoderma harzianum-1432 (42.2%) and Trichoderma atroviride (40.3%) were found to be strong antagonists. To enhance their antagonistic potential, mutagenesis of these two selected strains was performed. Two mutants, Th-m1 and T. atroviride m1, were found to be more effective than their parent strains. The enzymatic activities of the selected parent and mutant strains were assayed, and although both mutants were found to have enhanced enzymatic activities compared to their respective parent strains, Th-m1 possessed the maximum cellulase (5.69 U/mL) and β-1,3-glucanase activity (61.9 U/mL). Th-m1 also showed high competitive saprophytic ability (CSA) among all of the selected parent and mutant strains, and during field experiments, Th-m1 was found to successfully possess enhanced disease control (82.9%).

In vitro antifungal activity of leaf extract of five invasive plant species were evaluated against the fungal pathogen Macrophomina phaseolina using Microdilution assay and direct bioautographic technique. Plants selected for investigations were Ageratum conyzoides, Antigonon leptopus, Chromolaena odorata, Oxalis corniculata and Passiflora foetida. Methanolic extract of all the plants exhibited good activity with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranged between 0.078-2.5mg/ml. The leaf extract of Oxalis corniculata had promising antifungal activity with a low MIC value of 0.078mg/ml compared to the other species extracts tested. Total activity was highest in Antigonon leptopus(2304ml/g) followed by Oxalis corniculata(2141ml/g). Bioautography indicated clear zones of inhibition in Antigonon leptopus extract with three active band at R f value of 0.779, 0.468 and 0.276 in BEA mobile system and fungal growth was inhibited in most of the plants tested.

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