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Evaluation of phenolic compounds of methanolic and aqueous extracts of water hyacinth leaves And its antifungal effect on Candida Albicans
Volume 1, Issue 1, 2019, Pages 43 - 52
Author(s) : Rudabeh Rufchaei* 1 , Alireza Mirzajani 2 , Hojjatolah Zamani 3

1 Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute, Inland Waters Aquaculture Research Center, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Bandar Anzali, Iran. Roofchaie@gmail.com.

2 Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute, Inland Waters Aquaculture Research Center, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Bandar Anzali, Iran. ar_mirzajani@yahoo.com.

3 Assistant Professor in Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Guilan,Rasht, Iran. h_zamani@guilan.ac.ir

Abstract :
Water hyacinth (Echhornia crassipes) has become one of the world\'s worst weeds due to rapid proliferation rate and ability to quickly spread over the surface of fresh water bodies despite abundant phytochemical content. Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen causing candidiasis fungal infection in humans in the presence of predisposing factors. The present study aimed to evaluate phenolic composition of aquatic and hydromethanolic extracts of water hyacinth, and its antifungal effect on standard strain of Candida albicans. Dry leaf powder of water hyacinth was soaked in 80% methanol and water to prepare extracts under in vitro. Spectrophotometric assays were used to determine total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the extracts. Antifungal activity of the extracts against Candida albicans was evaluated. The growth inhibition zone diameter was assessed using agar diffusion assays at 6.3, 12.5, 25, 50 and 100 mg/ml concentrations. Total phenolic contents of aqueous and hydromethanolic extracts were 491.1 ± 31.9 and 76.8 ± 7.8 mg gallic acid/gr and total flavonoid contents were 258.3 ± 0.8 and 46.1 ± 6 mg quiricetin/g. Both extracts showed inhibitory effect on Candida albicans at 50 and 100 mg/ml concentrations. Inhibitory effect of the hydromethanolic extract of water hyacinth on Candida albicans strains was significantly higher than aqueous extract of the plant (P≤0.05). Phenolic compounds and other secondary metabolites of the extracts play an important role in antifungal activity of the plant.
Keywords :
Hydromethanolic extract, Water hyacinth, aquatic extract, Candida albicans