Assessment of Antifungal Activity of Essentia...

Assessment of Antifungal Activity of Essential Oils

Author Name : Suresh Kumar C, Aathiya Vanekar, Pratibha K.Y, Marhoob Banu*

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted with the main purpose to evaluate antifungal activity of five essential oils viz., Cinnamon oil (Cinnamomum zeylanicum), Clove oil (Syzygium aromaticum), Eucalyptus oil (Eucalyptusglobulus), Neem oil (Azadirachta indica) and Rose oil (Rosa rubiginosa) at concentrations of 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% respectively on Aspergillums fumigatas by poisoned food technique. Screening of fungi on Sorghum vulgare (Jowar) was done by agar plate method and the fungi studied was Aspergillus fumigates. Potato dextrose agar was prepared and well grown colony of Aspergillus fumigatus was inoculated. Pure culture of Aspergillus fumigates was obtained by sub culturing the previous culture and incubated at 27 ± 2 °C for 48 h. Aspergillus fumigatus was suspended in sterile distilled water and adjusted to a standard inoculum size to 1-2 x 106 CFU/mL. Five different concentrations of essential oils were added to sterile potato dextrose agar at concentration of 500 ppm in the hood of laminar air flow and 0.1 ml of fungal suspension was used to inoculate treated PDA petriplates with a sterile non-toxic cotton swab. Acetone at 500 ppm was added as control. The treated plates with essential oils and control were incubated at 27 ± 2 °C for 7 days. After incubation the treated plates were observed for zone of inhibition around wells and also for complete inhibition. It was observed that rose oil and clove oil were effective in completely inhibiting the growth of Aspergillums fumigates while cinnamon oil, eucalyptus oil and neem oil showed zone of inhibition. Zone of inhibition was measured in millimetres (mm) and recorded.

Keywords: Agar Plate Method, Antifungal Activity, Aspergillums Fumigates, Poisoned Food Technique.