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Original Article

Antifungal and antioxidant activities of organic

and aqueous extracts of Annona squamosa Linn.
leaves

Narasimharaju Kalidindi a,*,

Nagarasanakote Venkataswamy Thimmaiah b,
Nagepally Venkataramareddy Jagadeesh c, Ramaiah Nandeep a,
Sathyanarayana Swetha a, Bharat Kalidindi d
a
Department of Pharmacology, Visveswarapura Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
b
Department of Pharmacology, KLE College of Pharmacy, Belgaum, Karnataka, India
c
Department of Pharmacology, SET's College of Pharmacy, Dharwad, Karnataka, India
d
SDM College of Ayurveda Kuthpady, Udupi, Karnataka, India

article info abstract

Article history: An increasing demand for natural additives has shifted the attention from synthetic to
Received 2 October 2014 natural antioxidants and antifungal agents. This study was carried out to evaluate the
Received in revised form antifungal and antioxidant activities of methanol, chloroform, and aqueous extracts of
16 February 2015 Annona squamosa Linn. leaves. The antifungal activities of all extracts of A. squamosa leaves
Accepted 5 May 2015 against five different strains of fungi (Alternaria alternata, Candida albicans, Fusarium solani,
Available online 26 July 2015 Microsporum canis, and Aspergillus niger) were evaluated by the agar well diffusion method and
the minimum inhibitory concentration of each extract was assessed by antifungal suscep-
Keywords: tibility using the broth microdilution method. The antioxidant potential of each extract was
acetogenins determined by free radicals (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, nitric oxide, and hydrogen
Annona peroxide) scavenging activity and reducing power property of A. squamosa leaves. Both
antifungal organic and aqueous extracts were found to express dose-dependent inhibition against all
antioxidant tested fungi strains in both agar well diffusion and broth dilution methods. The free radical
extract scavenging activity and reducing power property of all extracts were found to be concen-
tration dependent, with the methanol extract exhibiting higher antioxidant activity than the
chloroform extract, which was more effective than the aqueous extract of A. squamosa
leaves. Results of phytochemical analysis of extracts showed the presence of glycosides,
saponins, tannins, flavonoids, phenols, etc. The results obtained from in vitro studies of
antifungal and antioxidant activities clearly suggest that the methanol, chloroform, and
aqueous extracts of A. squamosa leaves possess antifungal and antioxidant activity.
Copyright © 2015, Food and Drug Administration, Taiwan. Published by Elsevier Taiwan
LLC. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.

* Corresponding author. Department of Pharmacology, Visveswarapura Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 22nd Main, 24th Cross,
Banashankari II Stage, Bangalore 560 070, Karnataka, India.
E-mail address: [email protected] (N. Kalidindi).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfda.2015.04.012
1021-9498/Copyright © 2015, Food and Drug Administration, Taiwan. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
796 j o u r n a l o f f o o d a n d d r u g a n a l y s i s 2 3 ( 2 0 1 5 ) 7 9 5 e8 0 2

1. Introduction

In modern times, the use of herbal products has significantly

increased in the developed countries as well as in several
other countries. According to a World Health Organization
estimate, 80% of the world's population presently uses herbal
medicine for some aspect of primary health care [1]. Many of
the species are used in traditional medicines for the treat-
ment of a variety of diseases [2]. During the past several
years, there has been an increase in the incidence of fungal
infections due to the rise in immunocompromised popula-
tion (e.g., organ transplant recipients and patients with
cancer or human immunodeficiency virus infection/acquired
immune deficiency syndrome). This fact coupled with the
resistance to antibiotics and with toxicity during prolonged
treatment with several antifungal drugs has been the reason Fig. 1 e Annona squamosa Linn. plant: (A) flowers; (B) fruits;
for an extended search for newer drugs to treat opportunistic (C) seeds [7e10].
fungal infections. Infectious diseases, particularly skin and
mucosal infections, are common in most of the tribal in-
habitants due to lack of sanitation, potable water, and 2. Materials and methods
awareness of hygienic food habits. An important group of
these skin pathogens is the fungi, among which dermato- 2.1. Chemicals and solvents
phytes and Candida spp. are prominent. Antimicrobial prop-
erties of certain Indian medicinal plants were reported based All the chemicals used in this study were of analytical reagent
on folklore information and few studies were carried out on grade from SD Fine Chem Ltd. (Mumbai, Maharashtra, India),
the inhibitory activity of these plants against certain patho- whereas, sabouraud 4% glucose agar and 1,1-diphenyl-2-pic-
genic fungi [3]. rylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical were from Sigma-Aldrich (Banga-
Annona is the second largest genus of flowering plants in lore, Karnataka, India).
the family Annonaceae after Guatteria. Annona squamosa Linn.,
one of the important medicinal plants, commonly called 2.2. Collection of plant material
“custard apple,” is a well-known plant of this family. It has
been reported to possess a wide variety of pharmacological The leaves of A. squamosa were collected from fields of Dhar-
activities and is used in traditional applications [4]. A. squa- wad, Karnataka, India, in February 2010. The leaves were
mosa is cultivated throughout India, America, Brazil, Southern identified and authenticated at the herbarium of the Botany
Florida, and West Indies mainly for its edible fruits [5]. The Department of the Gulbarga University (voucher specimen
plant A. squamosa Linn. is commonly called custard apple HGUG No. 0019), Karnataka, India. After identification, the
(English), sharifa (Hindi), sitappalam (Tamil), sita phalamu plant material was processed for extraction procedure.
(Telugu), and sitaphala (Kannada) [4]. A. squamosa is a small
tree that grows up to 3e8 m, with broad, irregularly spreading 2.3. Preparation of the plant extract
branches of light brown bark having thin leaves that occur
singly, measuring 5e17 cm in length and 2e6 cm in width. The leaves of A. squamosa were thoroughly cleaned with water
Flowering (greenish yellow flowers on a hairy, slender 2-cm to remove dust particles and shade-dried at room temperature
long stalk) occurs during the period from spring to early and reduced to coarse powder using a mechanical mixer. The
summer and flowers are pollinated by nitidulid beetles. The powder was subjected to extraction by maceration using water,
round or heart-shaped greenish yellow, ripened aggregate chloroform, and methanol to obtain their respective extracts.
fruit is pendulous on a thickened stalk. The pulp of the fruit is To 75 g of the powdered drug, 750 mL of solvent (water or
white-tinged yellow, edible, and sweetly aromatic. Each carpel chloroform or methanol) was added and stirred occasionally.
contains an oblong, shiny and smooth, dark brown to black, The mixture was filtered on the 8th day, and the solvent was
1.3e1.6-cm long seed (Fig. 1) [6]. Extensive biological research evaporated at 40
C to obtain a solid mass [11]. The percentage
was carried out on this plant because of the presence of yields of water, chloroform, and methanol extracts were found
valuable annonaceous acetogenins in various parts of the to be 8.7% w/w, 10.1% w/w, and 12.6% w/w, respectively, which
plant, which are traditionally used for the treatment of many are stored in refrigerator (40
C) until further use.
ailments [5]. So far, there are no systematic studies on the
in vitro antifungal activity of the methanol, chloroform, and 2.4. Preliminary phytochemical screening
aqueous extracts as well as on the antioxidant effect of the
chloroform extract of A. squamosa leaves. Therefore, this All extracts were subjected to preliminary qualitative phyto-
investigation was carried out to evaluate the antifungal and chemical screening to detect the presence of glycosides, al-
antioxidant potential of three different extracts of A. squamosa kaloids, amino acids, flavonoids, carbohydrates, saponins,
leaves. phenols, steroids, and tannins by standard methods [12,13].
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2.5. Assessment of antifungal activity The half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values
were determined as the concentration of the test mixture that
Five pathogenic strains of fungi were used in the study, gave 50% reduction in absorbance from that of the control.
namely, Alternaria alternata, Candida albicans, Fusarium solani,
Microsporum canis, and Aspergillus niger, which were collected 2.6.1.1. DPPH free radical scavenging activity. The DPPH assay
from the Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh, India. was performed as described by Koleva et al [17]. Approxi-
They were maintained in culture on Sabouraud glucose (4%) mately 10 mL of different concentrations (10e500 mg/mL) of test
agar medium and used for antifungal assays as needed. sample solutions were added to 190 mL DPPH (150 mM) in
ethanol solution. The solutions were later vortex mixed and
2.5.1. Zone of inhibition of fungal growth incubated for 20 minutes at 37
C. The solvent alone was
The antifungal activity of the leaf extracts was evaluated considered “blank.” The decrease in absorbance of test mix-
by the agar well diffusion method. The fungal inoculates tures (due to quenching of DPPH free radicals) was determined
were aseptically swabbed on sterile and solidified Sabouraud at 517 nm; ascorbic acid (5e250 mg/mL) was used as the stan-
dextrose agar plates. Then, aseptically, 7-mm diameter dard [18].
wells were bored in the inoculated plates and the extracts
[1 mg/mL and 2 mg/mL of 10% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)], 2.6.1.2. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavenging activity. To
standard (ketoconazole 100 mg/mL), and blank (10% DMSO) evaluate the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavenging activity of
were added separately into the respective labeled wells. the extracts, the H2O2 solution was prepared in phosphate
The plates were incubated at 35
C for 72 hours in an upright buffer (pH 7.4) and then 0.6 mL of 40 mM H2O2 solution was
position and the zone of inhibition formed around the well mixed with 0.1 mL of different concentrations (10e500 mg/mL)
was recorded. The experiment was carried out in triplicates of the extracts. Absorbance of hydrogen peroxide at 230 nm
to get the average reading [14]. The percentage inhibition was determined after 10 minutes against a blank solution
of the methanol, chloroform, and aqueous extracts of A. containing phosphate buffer without hydrogen peroxide.
squamosa leaves was calculated using the following formula: Ascorbic acid (5e250 mg/mL) was taken as the reference
% inhibition ¼ (diameter zone of sample/diameter zone of compound [19].
ketoconazole)  100 [15].
2.6.1.3. Nitric oxide radical scavenging activity. Nitric oxide
2.5.2. Minimum inhibitory concentration against different (NO) generated from sodium nitroprusside was measured by
fungal strains the Griess reaction [20]. Sodium nitroprusside (5mM) in
The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined phosphate-buffered saline was mixed with 3 mL of different
using the broth dilution method. The fungal inoculum (105 concentrations (10e500 mg/mL) of A. squamosa extracts and the
dilution) was taken in test tubes with nutrient broth (1800 mL) mixture was incubated at 25
C for 150 minutes. The samples
supplemented with eight different concentrations (50 mg/mL, were then allowed to react with the Griess reagent (1% sulfa-
100 mg/mL, 200 mg/mL, 300 mg/mL, 400 mg/mL, 600 mg/mL, nilamide and 0.1% naphthyl ethylenediamine dihydrochloride
800 mg/mL, and 1000 mg/mL) of all leaf extracts separately. The in 2% H3PO4). The absorbance of the chromophore during the
results of the extracts were compared with a standard, posi- diazotization of nitrite with sulfanilamide and subsequent
tive control (100 mg/mL ketoconazole), and negative control coupling with naphthyl ethylenediamine was measured at
(respective solvent of each extract). All the test tubes were 546 nm. A similar procedure was repeated with respective
incubated at 35
C for 24e48 hours. The tubes were examined solvent instead of the extract, which served as the control; L-
for visual turbidity. The MIC values were taken as the lowest ascorbic acid (5e250 mg/mL) was used as the positive control
concentration that inhibited the visual growth of the tested [21]. All the tests were performed in triplicate. The percentage
organisms [14,16]. of scavenging activity was measured using the formula
mentioned in the “Radical Scavenging Activity” section.
2.6. Assessment of antioxidant activity
2.6.2. Reducing power property
2.6.1. Radical scavenging activity The reducing power of extracts was determined according to
The antioxidant activity was assessed through various in vitro the method suggested by Yen and Chen [22]. Different con-
assays. The free radical scavenging activities of the three ex- centrations of each extract (25e500 mg/mL) were mixed with
tracts of A. squamosa leaves and L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) phosphate buffer (2.5 mL, 0.2M, pH 6.6) and potassium ferric
were measured in terms of hydrogen donating or radical cyanide [K3Fe(CN)6] (2.5 mL, 1%). The mixture was incubated
scavenging ability using the stable 1,1-diphenyl-2- at 50
C for 20 minutes. A portion (2.5 mL) of trichloroacetic
picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals. Nitric acid generated from acid (10%) was added to the mixture to stop the reaction, and
sodium nitroprusside was measured by the Griess reaction. the mixture was centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 10 minutes. The
The antioxidant activity was further confirmed by hydrogen upper layer of solution (2.5 mL) was mixed with distilled water
peroxide (H2O2) scavenging and reducing power properties of (2.5 mL) and ferric chloride (0.5 mL, 0.1%), and the absorbance
A. squamosa leaves extracts. was measured at 700 nm. A similar procedure was repeated
The percentage scavenging of free radical activity was with respective solvent instead of the extract, which served as
calculated using the following formula: the control. Ascorbic acid was used as the standard. All tests
were performed in triplicate. Increased absorbance of the re-
% inhibition ¼ [(Control e Test)/Control]  100 (1) action mixture indicates the increased reducing power [23].
798 j o u r n a l o f f o o d a n d d r u g a n a l y s i s 2 3 ( 2 0 1 5 ) 7 9 5 e8 0 2

2.7. Statistical analysis whereas against F. solani, the aqueous extract exhibited in-
termediate effect (Fig. 2C) with percentage inhibition of 33.33%
The experimental results pertaining to the antifungal activity at 1 mg/mL and 64.58% at 2 mg/mL. Further, the methanolic
were expressed as the mean ± standard error of the mean and aqueous extracts showed maximum inhibitory activity
(SEM), and for antioxidant activity, the average values from against M. canis with percentage inhibition of 66.18% and
three parallel measurements were depicted in Figs. 3 and 4. 52.94% at 1 mg/mL and 72.06% and 67.65% at 2 mg/mL of the
Linear regression analysis was used to calculate the IC50 methanol and aqueous extracts, respectively, when compared
values. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of vari- with the chloroform extract (Fig. 2D) with percentage inhibi-
ance (ANOVA) followed by the Dunnett post hoc test using tion of 22.06% at 1 mg/mL and 41.18% at 2 mg/mL. All the three
GraphPad Prism 5 (GraphPad Software, Inc., La Jolla, CA, USA). extracts exhibited similar effect against A. niger with per-
centage inhibitions of 31.08%, 25.86%, and 22.41% at 1 mg/mL
and 81.03%, 77.59%, and 84.84% at 2 mg/mL of methanol,
3. Results chloroform, and aqueous extracts, respectively, as shown in
the Fig. 2E.
3.1. Phytochemical analysis
3.2.2. Broth microdilution method
The phytochemical qualitative analysis revealed the presence The MICs of methanol, chloroform, and aqueous extracts of A.
of glycosides, flavonoids, phenols, tannins, saponins, alka- squamosa leaves were estimated and presented in Table 2. The
loids, carbohydrates, and steroids in different extracts as re- organic extracts exhibited significantly higher antifungal ac-
ported in Table 1. tivity than the aqueous extract of A. squamosa leaves. The
chloroform extract showed maximum potency among the
3.2. Antifungal assessment three extracts tested against A. alternata and F. solani. The
methanol extract exhibited the highest activity against M.
3.2.1. Agar well diffusion method canis and A. niger; however, against C. albicans both methanol
The results of this study revealed that the leaves of A. squa- and chloroform extracts showed the same potency. The
mosa possess potential antifungal activity against all five aqueous extract showed relatively less activity when
pathogenic fungal strains studied. The antifungal activity was compared with the methanol and chloroform extracts against
determined using the agar well diffusion method by all tested fungal strains.
measuring the diameter of zone of inhibition and by calcu-
lating the percentage inhibition. The antifungal activity of the
tested extracts showed different selectivity for each micro- 3.3. Antioxidant assessment
organism studied. Our analysis indicated that both chloro-
form and methanol extracts showed almost similar effect 3.3.1. Radical scavenging activity
against A. alternata, C. albicans, and F. solani (Fig. 2Ae2C, The results pertaining to the DPPH free radical scavenging
respectively) with percentage inhibition of 79.10%, 27.69%, activity of the three different extracts of A. squamosa leaves,
and 91.67% at 1 mg/mL and 83.58%, 64.62%, and 108.33% at along with the standard reference, vitamin C, are shown in
2 mg/mL of the chloroform extract, respectively, and 34.33%, Fig. 3A. The potent free radical scavenging activity was
43.08%, and 60.42% at 1 mg/mL and 74.63%, 70.77%, and 97.92% exhibited by the chloroform extract (IC50 308.3 mg/mL),
at 2 mg/mL of the methanol extract, respectively. However, whereas the methanol extract (IC50 342.5 mg/mL) showed
the aqueous extract of A. squamosa showed relatively less comparable scavenging activity and the aqueous extract (IC50
activity against A. alternata and C. albicans (Fig. 2A and 2B, 439.6 mg/mL) exhibited relatively less free radical scavenging
respectively), with percentage inhibition of 20.90% and 9.23% activity. Ascorbic acid showed the highest DPPH radical
at 1 mg/mL and 43.28% and 33.85% at 2 mg/mL, respectively, scavenging activity (IC50 35.26 mg/mL).
Fig. 3B shows hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity of the
methanol, chloroform, and aqueous extracts of A. squamosa
Table 1 e Preliminary phytochemical analysis of the leaves. All extracts caused a strong dose-dependent inhibition
methanol, chloroform, and aqueous extracts of Annona of hydrogen peroxide. The aqueous and chloroform extracts
squamosa Linn. leaves. showed good H2O2 scavenging ability compared with the
Extract Methanol Chloroform Aqueous methanol extract. The IC50 values of the chloroform, aqueous,
extract extract extract and methanol extracts were 242.7 mg/mL, 342.2 mg/mL, and
Alkaloids þ e e 453.7 mg/mL, respectively; however, ascorbic acid showed
Glycosides þ þ þ maximum activity with IC50 of 32.73 mg/mL.
Flavonoids þ þ þ Results related to the NO radical scavenging activity of all
Tannins þ þ e the extracts and positive control showed significant NO
Carbohydrates þ e þ radical scavenging activity in a concentration-dependent
Phenols þ þ þ
manner (Fig. 3C). In this assay, the methanol extract caused
Saponins þ e þ
a potential inhibition when compared with the chloroform
Amino acids e e þ
Steroids e þ e and aqueous extracts of A. squamosa leaves with IC50 values of
185.2 mg/mL, 345.8 mg/mL, and 366.3 mg/mL, respectively. The
þ ¼ present; e ¼ absent.
IC50 value of ascorbic acid was 58.7 mg/mL.
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Fig. 2 e (A) Antifungal activity of Annona squamosa Linn. against Alternaria alternata. (B) Antifungal activity of A. squamosa
against Candida albicans. (C) Antifungal activity of A. squamosa against Fusarium solani. (D) Antifungal activity of A. squamosa
against Microsporum canis. (E) Antifungal activity of A. squamosa against Aspergillus niger. The values are expressed as
mean ± standard error of the mean. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, and *** p < 0.01 versus vehicle control (blank), calculated using one-
way analysis of variance followed by Dunnett post hoc analysis (n ¼ 3). AEAS ¼ aqueous extract; CEAS ¼ chloroform extract;
KTZ ¼ ketoconazole; MEAS ¼ methanol extract.

3.3.2. Reducing power assay

The reducing power property of the methanol, chloroform,
4. Discussion
and aqueous extracts is illustrated in Fig. 4. In the reductive
Antimicrobial activities of plant leaves, flowers, stems, roots,
ability measurement, Fe3þ to Fe2þ transformation in the
or fruits from various herbs and spices have been reported by
presence of extract sample was investigated. In this study, the
many workers [24]. Successful prediction of botanical com-
reductive capabilities of the chloroform, methanol, and
pounds from plant material is largely dependent on the type
aqueous extracts of A. squamosa leaves were increased with
of solvent used in the extraction procedure. Results of the
increase in their concentration.
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for the methanol and chloroform extracts against A. alternata,

Table 2 e Minimum inhibitory concentrations of different
C. albicans, and F. solani, whereas the methanol and aqueous
extracts of Annona squamosa Linn. against various fungal
strains. extracts showed better effect than the chloroform extract
against M. canis, which causes tinea corporis and tinea capitis
Fungus Methanol Chloroform Aqueous
in humans. However, all the tested extracts showed similar
extract (mg/mL) extract (mg/mL) extract (mg/mL)
inhibitory activity against the fungus A. niger, which is a fila-
Alternaria 800 200 1000
mentous ascomycete that is ubiquitous in the environment
alternata
Candia 600 600 800
and has been implicated in opportunistic infections of
albicans humans. It causes various diseases in plants and animals. In
Fusarium 600 300 800 plants, it causes black mold and rot diseases and in human
solani beings it causes aspergillosis, which leads to pulmonary al-
Microsporum 400 800 600 lergy, bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, and pulmonary
canis
aspergilloma [16]. The presented result may further indicate
Aspergillus 400 600 1000
that the antimicrobial properties/chemical constituents,
niger
which are either polar or nonpolar, might be effectively
extracted through the organic solvent medium. Some of the
antifungal assay carried out with aqueous and organic ex- earlier studies also reported the effective inhibitory activity of
tracts of A. squamosa leaves showed their inhibitory effect at alcoholic solvents against the growth of pathogenic fungi. The
both concentrations tested (1 mg/mL and 2 mg/mL) against aqueous (water) extract showed a much lesser inhibitory ef-
the five pathogenic fungi in a dose-dependent manner. These fect, which might be attributed to the extracting capacity of
pathogens included A. niger, M. canis, F. solani, A. alternata, and solvent and the concentration of the active ingredients in the
C. albicans, which are known to cause aspergillosis, dermato- extracts; in addition, most of the active ingredients dissolve
phytosis, Fusarium keratitis, respiratory tract infections, and better in alcoholic solvents than in water. Several researchers
candidiasis, respectively. The antifungal activity was higher have reported that aqueous (water) extracts do not exhibit

Fig. 3 e (A) 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity of Annona squamosa Linn. leaves. (B) H2O2 scavenging
activity of A. squamosa leaves. (C) Nitric oxide radical scavenging activity of A. squamosa leaves. AEAS ¼ aqueous extract;
CEAS ¼ chloroform extract; MEAS ¼ methanol extract.
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important bioactive phytoconstituents from the leaves of A.

squamosa are required for the development of potential anti-
fungal agents, our report provides a strong evidence of the
ability of the methanolic and chloroform extracts of A. squa-
mosa leaves against the fungal species tested.
The DPPH free radical scavenging model can be used to
evaluate the antioxidant activity in a relatively short time.
DPPH is a stable free radical and accepts either an electron or
OH* to become a stable diamagnetic molecule [30]. The
decreased absorbance results in a color change from purple to
yellow, as radicals were scavenged by antioxidants through
the donation of hydrogen to form the stable DPPH molecule
[31]. Hydrogen peroxide is a weak oxidizing agent and can
inactivate a few enzymes directly, usually by oxidation of the
essential thiol groups. Hydrogen peroxide crosses cell mem-
Fig. 4 e Reducing power property of Annona squamosa Linn.
brane and reacts with ferric and copper ions, which show
leaves extracts. AEAS ¼ aqueous extract; CEAS ¼ chloroform
toxic effects [32]. Similarly, the reactive oxygen species NO is
extract; MEAS ¼ methanol extract.
also implicated in inflammation, cancer, and other patholog-
ical conditions [33]. NO is a very unstable species under aer-
obic conditions [34]. The plant products have the property to
counteract the effect of NO formation and, in turn, may be of
much activity against fungi [25]. Further, the evaluation of considerable interest in relation to preventing the ill effects of
minimum inhibitory concentration of A. squamosa leaves ex- excessive NO generation in the human body. Several studies
tracts by the broth dilution method revealed the differential have evaluated the relationship between the antioxidant ac-
potency of each extract against the tested fungal strains. The tivity of plant products and their phenolic content. Substances
most susceptible species for the chloroform extract of A. that are able to perform these reactions can be considered as
squamosa leaves were A. alternata and F. solani, whereas C. antioxidants and radical scavengers [18]. Reducing power,
albicans, M. canis, and A. niger were found to be more suscep- which was used to measure the reductive ability of antioxi-
tible to the methanol extract of A. squamosa The varying de- dants, was evaluated by the transformation of Fe3þ to Fe2þ in
gree of sensitivity of tested fungi may be due to the intrinsic the presence of the leaves extracts [35]. Antioxidants reduce
tolerance of microorganisms and the nature and combina- the Fe3þ/ferricyanide complex to the ferrous form by donating
tions of phytocompounds present in the crude extracts. The an electron. The color of the test solution then changes from
bioactivity of plant extracts was attributed to the presence of yellow to different shades of green and blue [36]. The ability of
phytochemical constituents; for example, plants rich in sa- these extracts to reduce Fe3þ may be attributed to the
ponins have immune-boosting, anti-inflammatory [26], anti- hydrogen donating effect of phenolic compounds [37]. It has
viral, and antibacterial properties [27]. Similarly, tannins have been reported that phenolic compounds were the main anti-
been reported to have antibacterial potential due to their basic oxidant components, and their total contents were directly
character that allows them to react with proteins to form proportional to their antioxidant activity [38]. Therefore, in
stable water-soluble compounds, thereby killing bacteria by this study, the presence of the flavonoids and phenols in all
directly damaging their cell membrane. Flavonoids are a the tested extracts of A. squamosa leaves might have contrib-
major group of phenolic compounds reported for their anti- uted to the antioxidant activity.
viral, antimicrobial, and spasmolytic properties [26]. Alkaloids
isolated from plants are commonly found to have antimicro-
bial properties [28]. With regard to natural products, it is
generally accepted that phytochemicals are less potent anti-
infectives than agents of microbial origin (i.e., antibiotics). 5. Conclusion
However, new classes of antimicrobial drugs are urgently
required and the flavonoids represent a novel set of leads. From the aforementioned results, it can be concluded that the
Future optimization of these compounds through structural chloroform, methanol, and aqueous extracts of the leaves of
alteration may allow the development of a pharmacologically A. squamosa have in vitro antifungal and antioxidant activities.
acceptable antimicrobial agent or group of agents. The re- Further studies are required to isolate the active components
searchers reported that screening of these analogs might lead from the extracts and to elucidate the exact mechanism of
to the identification of compounds that are sufficiently potent action of the antifungal and antioxidant activities.
to be useful as antifungal, antiviral or antibacterial chemo-
therapeutics [29]. The antifungal activity of the leaves extracts
of A. squamosa as recorded in this study may be attributed to
the presence of flavonoids; however, the higher degree of
antifungal potency of the chloroform and methanol extracts Conflicts of interest
recorded in this study might be due to the presence of tannins.
Whereas the isolation and characterization of medicinally The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
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