IN VITRO SUSCEPTIBILITIES OF CLINICAL ISOLATES OF YEAST AND YEAST LIKE FUNGI TO VARIOUS EXTRACTS OF JATROPHA CURCAS

Background: There has been a growing need for more antifungal drugs while the resistance of antifungal drugs as well has been on the increase; also there has been long established medicinal potentials ascribed to Jatropha curcas. Objective: To establish antifungal properties present in the extracts of J. curcas. Methods: Various fungi were isolated from clinical samples. Potato dextrose agar and Sabouraud dextrose agar were prepared to grow the fungi. J. curcas extracts were obtained by various methods: crude, water, methanol and lyophilization; both the crude and processed extracts were tested against selected fungi in various concentrations of v/v 5%, 10% and 15%, and their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were established using break point plate and tube methods. Results obtained were analysed using simple descriptive methods. Results: Trichophyton mentagrophyte, Trichophyton verrucosum, Trichosporon beigelii, and Candida albicans were found to be highly susceptible to the seed and seed testa extracts of J. curcas while Aspergillus fumigatus was resistant to all the extracts tested. Conclusion: The safe and achievable plasma levels of these extracts should be established as well as ascertain the toxic and other side effects of the extracts so that this antifungal potential could be properly exploited for human benefi