American Journal of Phytomedicine and Clinical Therapeutics www.ajpct.org Original Article Antifungal Efficacy of Moringa oleifera Lam.

Background: The success of chemotherapy lies in the continuous search for new drugs to counter the challenge posed by resistant microbes. Moringa oleifera has been traditionally used in Indian folklore medicine for the treatment of various microbial infections. Objective: To investigate antifungal activity and explore the phytochemistry of methanolic and ethyl acetate leaf extracts of M. oleifera. Methods: Disc diffusion and broth dilution methods were used for antifungal activity and standard qualitative chemical tests for the identification of phytoconstituents. Results: Both the plant extracts showed antifungal activity against Rizopus stolonifer and Microsporum gypsum. Ethyl acetate extract was more active against M. gypsum, while R. stolonifer was more sensitive to methanolic extract. MIC ranged from 1.56 to 6.25mg/ml for both the extracts. The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids flavonoids, glycosides, tannins, triterpenoids and steroids. Conclusion: The study showed potential antifungal activity of M. oleifera extracts, particularly against dermatophytic fungi, M. gypseum, therefore, provides justification for the use of the plant species in folk medicine to treat skin and other infectious diseases