Antifungal Effect of Five Plant Extracts on the Variants of Trichophyton rubrum

Abstract

The synthetic drugs developed against dermatophytic infections caused by Trichophyton rubrum are not altogether free of side effects. The therapeutic measures sometimes become toxic to humans. With that in view, extracts from five plants, plentifully available in India, were tested under in vitro conditions upon the variants of T. rubrum causing cutaneous and superficial skin infections at Rourkela, Orissa, India. It was observed that oils of Azadirachta indica, Pongamia glabra and extracts from the rhizomes of Curcuma longa were highly effective in inhibiting the growth of the fungal variants in this part of the world. In this paper, the in vitro minimal inhibiting concentration of these plant extracts were determined against 4 variants of T. rubrum.