EFFICACY OF ANTI-FUNGAL PROPERTY OF THE EXTRACT OF DAHLIA PINNATA ON CANDIDA ALBICANS- AN IN VITRO STUDY.

Abstract

Context: Oral thrush or Candidiasis remains a common problem in children, elderly and immunocompromised patients
with ailments like renal diseases, diabetes mellitus etc. Candida albicans is the main causative organism for this disease.
Long term use of chemical antifungal make Candida albicans resistant to them. Hence more effective methods/drugs are required to combat
Candida.In present scenario research works are being carried out to seek more traditional or herbal treatment to have better healing effects
without adverse effects of the synthetic antifungal drugs that are been currently used. Aims: To determine minimum zone of inhibition of Dahlia
pinnata against C.albicans Settings and Design: An Invitro Study. Methods and Material: The well diffusion method using Sabouraud
dextrose agar plates was used to evaluate the anticandidal activity of 5%, 10% and 50% concentration of Dahlia pinnata leaves extract against
C.albicans (ATCC 90228) in comparison with 5% Fluconazole. Statistical Analysis : Results were analyzed using SPSS version 19.
Independent sample t test was used to compare mean zone of inhibition between two groups with the P value <0.05 was considered statistically
significant. Results: Dahlia pinnata leaves extract exhibited the inhibitory effect against C.albicans. This inhibitory effect was found to increase
as the concentration of the plant extract increased with 5% showing 2.103mm, 10% showing 3.057mm and 50% showing 5.127mm; however
even at the highest concentration, it was much less compared to 5% concentration of Fluconazole (6.99mm). Conclusions: The anticandidal
activity of Dahlia pinnata leaves against C.albicans needs to be further studied, which may increase its possibility of getting used in herbal
medicine in the near future.