Abstract

Increase in human fungal infections have profoundly impacted human health and have resulted in the development of resistance to existing antifungal drugs used for treatment. Morinda citrifolia (MC) has been reported to possess activity against Candida albicans. This study thus aimed at evaluating the antifungal activity of MC leaf extracts, against species of Candida, Aspergillus, Microsporum and Trichophyton. Antifungal assay was carried out using agar diffusion and dilution methods. The sensitivity tests were analyzed using Student’s t-test. The result showed that the chloroform extract recorded the highest activity against the selected fungal isolates tested at 100 mg/ml, with Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) ranging from 1.00–8.00 mg/ml. The lowest MIC value was recorded against Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis, Microsporum canis and Microsporum audiounii implying that the isolates were the most susceptible of all the isolates tested. MC has shown potency as an antifungal agent and could be further explored as alternative to synthetic drugs.

Keywords: Morindacitrifolia, Candida spp., Aspergillus spp., Microsporum spp., Trichophyton spp.