Purpose: To evaluate the antifungal and cytotoxic activities of four medicinal plants from Tanzania,
namely,
Mystroxylon aethiopicum
,
Lonchocarpus capassa
, Albizia anthelmentica and
Myrica salicifolia
.
Methods: The plant materials were subjected to extraction using dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and
distilled water. The minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) of the extracts against
Candida albicans
and
Cryptococcus neoformans
was determined by microdilution method. The lowest concentration which
showed no fungal growth was considered as MIC. The cytotoxic effect of the extracts was determined
using brine shrimp toxicity assay.
Results: Lonchocarpus capassa leaf extracts exhibited antifungal activity against test fungal strains
with MIC range of 0.78 – 3.13 mg/mL with Lonchocarpus capassa aqueous leaf extract (LCAL) inhibiting
C. albicans and C. neoformans at MIC value of 0.78 mg/mL. Cytotoxicity assay revealed that LCAL
extract which displayed good antifungal activity, was cytotoxic against brine shrimp larvae with halfmaximal
lethal concentration (LC
50) value of 17.86 μg/mL. Interestingly, 33 % of plant extracts exhibited
high cytotoxicity with LC
50 values below that of the standard anticancer drug, cyclophosphamide (16.57
μg/mL).
Conclusion: The results obtained suggest that LCAL needs to be further investigated for its
phytochemical composition to unravel its antifungal secondary metabolites. Furthermore, some of the
plant extracts are potential anticancer agents.
