الفهرس 
History of bioactive compounds in plantsOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Recently, increasing resistance of pathogenic fungi against available antimicrobial agents is of a major concern. It is observed that pathogenic fungi are more difficult to treat with existing drugs and to overcome this problem, an antimicrobial drug with a novel mode of action should be developed. Plants are good source of major substances which may serve as antifungal agents with no harmful side effects, and has low cost.
The aim of this study:
The aim of this study is to investigate the antifungal properties of some plant extracts by different solvents against some pathogenic fungi isolated from different localities of Cairo. In this study we intended to search for natural, cheaper and potent source for bioactive antifungal agents which may be used as antifungal for therapy.
In the present study:
1- Five dermatophytes were isolated from soil from different localities in Cairo and identified as follow: Microsporum gypseum, Microsporum boullardii, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton terrestre and Trichophyton verrucosum.
2- Five plants were chosen to investigate their antifungal activity against five isolated dermatophytes. They were Pomegranate, Kurrat, Castor bean, Fennel and Aloe vera.
This study was carried out as follow:
1- Five dermatophytes were isolated from soil from different localities in Cairo by hair baiting technique.
2- Different extracts were prepared from different plant parts using three solvents hexane, ethyl acetate and 80% ethanol.
3- Antifungal activity test was carried out on five isolated dermatophytes using well diffusion method.
4- The active crude 80% ethanolic extract of Pomegranate and active crude hexane extract of Kurrat were chromatographed by column chromatography.
5- The active fractions obtained from column chromatography were analyzed by Gas chromatography-Mass Spectrum (GC-MS).
The results obtained showed the following:
1- Ethanolic 80% extract of Pomegranate and Kurrat were effective against most of the tested fungi while hexane extract of kurrat affected all tested fungi.
2- All extracts of Fennel, Castor bean and Aloe vera were not effective against all tested fungi.
3- Ethyl acetate: ethanol (9:1) fraction of Pomegranate and hexane: ethyl acetate (1:9) fraction of Kurrat obtained from column chromatography showed antifungal activity against the identified fungal strains.
4- On Gas chromatography-Mass Spectrum (GC-MS) analysis, organosulfur compounds were identified in Kurrat which have an
effective antifungal effect; while various compounds were identified in pomegranate have antifungal effect.
Conclusion:
The following suggestion should be considered:
1- Hexane extract of Kurrat bulbs and ethanolic extract of Pomegranate peels can be used for controlling some dermatophytes as Microsporum gypseum, Microsporum boullardii, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton terrsetre and Trichophyton verrucosum.
2- Hexane extract of Kurrat bulbs and ethanolic extract of Pomegranate peels could be used as antifungal agent that can be used for treating some tinea diseases.
3- Further studies and investigations are needed to determine antifungal activity of natural plants which can be used as safe
drugs.
Recommendation:
The antifungal activity of crude extracts (hexane extract of Allium ampeloparsum var kurrat (kurrat) and 80% ethanolic extract of Punica granatum (pomegranate)) on Trichophyton species proved to be of great interest because its value is more than the value of the traditional antifungal drug (itraconazole) in case of kurrat and nearly equal to the value of itraconazole in case of pomegranate.
These result encourage us to do further investigations on both extracts to isolate the active compounds responsible for these activities.