Effect of crude extract mixtures of five selected medicinal plant species on Malassezia sp.

Abstract

Plants contain a variety of phytochemicals which can be used for curing various kinds of diseases. In this study, crude extract mixtures of five medicinal plant species Citrus aurantifolia, Curcuma domestica, Trigonella foenumgraceum, Cassia alata, Azadirachta indica were investigated for antidandruff activity against dandruff causing agent Malassezia sp. The methanol extracts of five plants were combined in designated ways, in which every combination had an equal amount of each plant extract. Malassezia sp fungi was isolated and incubated in a modified PDA medium supplemented with olive oil and coconut oil. Disc diffusion method was used to test the antifungal activity of the plant extracts and the mean inhibition zone was measured in mm. Data were analyzed using one way ANOVA and Tukey’s pairwise mean comparison was applied to compare the mean at P=0.05. The combined crude extracts A (Citrus aurantifolia + Azadirachta indica), B (Azadirachta indica + Curcuma domestica) and F (Azadirachta indica + Curcuma domestica + Citrus aurantifolia) having the highest zone (28.00 mm, 23.25mm and 24.92 mm respectively) of inhibition followed by combinations E (Azadirachta indica + Curcuma domestica + Cassia alata) (18.67mm), C (Citrus aurantifolia + Cassia alata) (15.00mm) and D (Citrus aurantifolia + Trigonella foenumgraceum) (15.00mm). All combinations of crude extracts had good antifungal activity but there is a considerable disparity in the potency of their antifungal activity. This may be due to the variation in concentration of active compound present in the crude extracts against fungi. Among the commercial antidandruff shampoos tested, the best antidandruff shampoo was Head&Shoulder (22.1mm). This was followed by ‘Clear’ (20.4mm) and ‘Lifebuoy’ (18.5mm). All these shampoos contain Zinc pyrithione (ZPT) which is reported to be anti-malassezial agent. The experiment showed that the antifungal activity of five plant extracts in the form of various combinations and commercial antidandruff shampoos was significantly different. Herbal-based shampoos are more effective in terms of safety and ease of manufacturing and in an economic point of view to control dandruff which is a major cosmetic problem.