PONGAMIA PINNATA: A POTENTIAL TOPICAL HERBAL ANTIFUNGAL AGENT AGAINST CANDIDA ALBICANS
The aim of the study is to assess the antifungal activity and to determine the zone of inhibition of Pongamia pinnata leaf extracts on Candida albicans strains. Candidiasis is an acute or chronic, superficial or deep infection with a very wide clinical spectrum. Candidiasis occurs mostly in patients who are predisposed to an overgrowth of their own yeast flora. Candida albicans is an opportunistic human fungal pathogen that causes candidiasis. Increasing incidence of opportunistic infections has led to investigation of the anticandidal activity of the medicinal plants. The study carried out to assess the antifungal effect of petroleum ether, benzene and aqueous extracts of Pongamia pinnata leaves on Candida albicans in vitro. The leaves were assessed for its ability to inhibit the growth of the opportunistic pathogen, Candida albicans. It was found that of all the crude extracts of ethanolic leaf extractplants showed significant anticandidal activity. The results of this study suggest that traditional medicinal plants represent an untapped source of compounds with anticandidal activity could be a resource in the development of new therapeutic natural products