ASSESSMENT OF THE IN VITRO ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF METHANOL EXTRACTS FROM THE TRADITIONAL MEDICINAL PLANTS USED BY KALENJIN COMMUNITY, UASIN GISHU COUNTY, KENYA

Barmao Abigael, Pascaline Jeruto*, Lizzy Mwamburi

Traditional medicinal plants are increasingly recognized for their therapeutic potential, particularly as new antifungal agents. Thus, this study targeted to evaluate herbs for antifungal activity in vitro. Fresh plant/plant parts were collected from the fields following leads by herbalists. The taxonomic identities of these plants were confirmed by a taxonomist. The plant material was washed under running tap water, air dried for one week and then homogenized to fine powder. This was then soaked under Methanol for two days, filtered and rotor vaporized to dry to get the final crude extract. The final product was air dried at room temperature overnight, to allow all the methanol to evaporate. Thereafter, half the sample was subjected to bioassay following Kirby bauer method. The other sample was subjected to phytochemical analysis following standard methods. The crude concoction was also subjected to bioassay following the agar dilution method. The test fungal strains investigated included; Candida albicans ATCC90020, Candida tropicalis ATCC750, Candida famata (clinical isolate), Candida glabrata ATCC90039, C. lusitanie (clinical isolate) C. parapsilosis ATCC22019, and C. krusei ATCC6285.The gram-positive Staphylococcus aureusATCC25922. A control was with Nystatin discs and Dimethylsulphoxide prepared discs. The results obtained was analysed using ANOVA. The crude drug demonstrated activity against C. famata and S. aureus. The methanol extracts of Fuerstia africana demonstrated the most activity against C.tropicalis (9mm) with MFC of 0.125mg/ml. C. parapsilosis (8.66mm) with MFC of 0.015625mg/ml and S. aureus (12mm) MFC of 0.0078125mg/ml. Extract of Rubia cordifolia showed bioactivity against C. parapsilosis at 10.66mm diameter with mfc of 0.015625mg/ml. The plant extracts of Ajuga remota and Acmella caulirhiza did not demonstrate any antimifungal activity. The bioactivity against Candida famata and S. aureus were at 5mg/ml and 2.5mg/ml respectively. These findings therefore authenticate the use of herbals made from R. cordifolia and F. africana in traditional medicine for the treatment of oral thrush.