Phytochemical Screening and Antifungal Activity of Saponin Extract From Algerian Silene Hoggariensis Quezel

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the presence of active phytochemical compounds of Silene hoggariensis Quezel and to assess the antifungal activity of saponin extracts. Plant sample was collected from Adrar department (south Algeria), the phytochemical screening was conducted on the arial part by three solvents. The saponin extracts were screened for antifungal activity against Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus ochraceus, Fusarium oxysporium and Penicillium expansum using two methods: inhibition of radial growth on solid medium (PDAa) and inhibition of biomass on liquid medium (PDB). The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of various secondary metabolites of therapeutically importance. The major phytochemicals found were saponins (3.2%), tannin (0.08%) and alkaloids (0.01%). The in vitro antifungal assay of the saponins exhibit antifungal potency against fungal strains tested with varied effectiveness. Higher antifungal inhibition was observed on Fusarium oxysporium (IAF: 40.69%), and Penicillium expansum (IAF: 36.20%). Less antifungal effect of saponins was observed for Aspergillus ochraceus and Aspergillus flavus. The results provided evidence that the studied saponin extract might indeed be potential sources of natural antifungal agents.

In vitro toxicity determination of antifungal constituents from Combretum zeyheri

“…Pathogenic fungi cause infections leading to critical threats on public health. The sudden uprising of fungal infections in the last few years is attributed to the population’s susceptibility to opportunistic infections precipitated by immune system suppression closely linked to malnutrition [ 1 ]. Candida albicans is one of the organisms living on the human body symbiotically, but, in hosts with low immunity it is one of the resilient fungal organisms [ 2 ].…”

“…There are few effective antifungals available and most of them have unpleasant effects such as renal toxicity that occurs during the use of amphotericin B, and drug-drug interactions in the use of azoles [ 5 ]. The prevalence of fungal infections is increased by antibiotic resistance and antifungal drug toxicity especially after prolonged treatment, hence, there is need for new, safe and non-toxic drugs [ 1 ].…”

“…The World Health Organisation reports that greater than 80 % of the world’s population relies on traditional medicine to cater for primary health care [ 1 ]. Herbal medicines are believed to be free from side effects, less toxic and cheaper than conventional medicines.…”

“…Plants synthesize bioactive compounds that are responsible for in vitro antimicrobial activity of plant extracts. These bioactive compounds include alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, terpenoids, tannins, carbohydrates and sterols [ 1 ].…”

Entomopathogenicity of fungi in combination with Ricinus communis extract for the control of Aleurocanthus woglumi

“…The presence of alkaloids was investigated from precipitation tests with Dragendorff’s reagent. For saponins, the precipitates were solubilized in water and stirred vigorously for 15 s. Persistent appearance of foam lasting for at least 15 min confirms the presence of saponins (Amrouche et al., 2014).…”