In-vitro Antifungal Activity of Leaf Extracts of Leucas Aspera and Leucas Zeylanica

The aim of the present study is to probe the antimicrobial activities of methanol leaf extract of Leucas sp. Antifungal susceptibilities of certain clinically isolated dermatophytes to methanol extracts of Leucas aspera and Leucas zeylanica leaves were performed using agar well diffusion method. The result obtained shows that all the extracts expressed remarkable antifungal activity with zone of inhibition ranging from 5 to 10mm. Maximum inhibition zone was recorded with Penicillium sp. (10 mm) while minimum inhibition zone of was recorded for Candida tropicalis (3 mm). From the study it is evident that Leucas aspera and Leucas zeylanica possess potential antidermatophytic activity and further study on these plants may lead to explore novel bioactive compounds. INTRODUCTION: In recent years microorganisms have developed resistance to many commercial antibiotics due to indiscriminate use of antimicrobial drugs and this has created immense clinical problem in the treatment of infectious diseases 1 . The increase in resistance of microorganisms encouraged scientists to search for new antimicrobial agents from plants. They are very efficient in treating contagious diseases without extenuating any harmful side effects that are related to pharmaceutically available antimicrobials 2 . Search for novel antifungal agents with wide range of structural classes acting on selectively new targets with fewer side effects has been going on. One approach might be the testing of plants traditionally used for their antifungal activities as potential sources for drug development 3 . QUICK RESPONSE CODE DOI: 10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.7(2).752-56 Article can be accessed online on: www.ijpsr.com DOI link: http://dx.doi.org/10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.7 (2).752-56 Various compounds obtained from different parts of plants like roots, shoots and leaves could be used in the form of crude extracts to treat some common infections. According to folklore medicine, plants from the genus Leucas show various therapeutic activities. In this work two species of the genus Leucas have been chosen Leucas aspera and Leucas zeylanica. Leucas aspera (Willd.) Link. belongs to the family Lamiaceae is locally known as “Thumbe (English), Dronapushpi, Chitrapatrika (Sanskrit), Thumbai (Tamil) widely distributed throughout South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Nepal), Malaysia and Mauritius 4 . Traditionally, Leucas aspera has been reported to be used for coughs, cold, painful swelling, and in chronic skin eruptions 5 . The leaf extracts are applied to the bites of serpents, poisonous insects, and scorpion sting. The leaves are also used as insecticides and mosquito repellent in rural area 6 . Different types of chemicals such as glucosides, tannins, saponins, sterols, oleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleanolic acid, ursolic acid and nicotin have already been isolated from