Preliminary studies on the antifungal activities of ethanol and hot water extracts of local spices against fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans isolates recovered from clinical samples

This study evaluated the antifungal effect of local spices namely Capsicum annum var. shombo, Capsicum annuum var. atarugu, Capsicum annuum var. Nsukka yellow pepper, Zingiber officinale and Allium sativum against fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans isolates. Hot water and ethanol were used as solvents for extraction. The seed and pericarp extracts from Capsicum annuum alone showed no inhibitory effect against the test organisms. Notwithstanding, whole Capsicum annuum fruit extracts showed variable levels of inhibition against the tested isolates. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) results of hot water extract showed that Capsicum annuum var. atarugu had the lowest MIC of 6.25 mg/ml while Capsicum annuum var. yellow pepper showed the highest MIC of 100 mg/ml. Zingiber officinale showed MIC range of 3.125 mg/ml to 50 mg/ml and Allium sativum an MIC range of 12.5 mg/ml to 50 mg/ml for both hot water extract and ethanol extracts. The least MIC was obtained with Zingiber officinale ethanol extract with an MIC of 3.125 mg/ml. Our finding shows that these spices may be potential sources of antifungal agents.Keywords: Capsicum annum, Zingiber officinale, Allium sativum, Antifungal activity, Nsukk