Abstract:
Background: The importance of antifungal activity spans multiple fields such as health,
pharmaceutical, cosmetics, food etc. There are natural products rich with antifungal effects and
incorporating herbs with antifungal properties into herbal hair care products offers multiple
benefits, including natural preservation, scalp health promotion, hair loss prevention, reduced
irritation, and alignment with consumer preferences for natural ingredients.
Objectives: To compare the antifungal activity of aqueous and ethanol extracts of
Elaeocarpus serratus (Ceylon olive) and Acacia concinna (Shikakai) and to evaluate the
antifungal activity of different ratios of ethanol extracts of two plants
Methods: The antifungal activity of both ethanolic and aqueous extracts of E. serratus leaves
and A. concinna pods were evaluated using the agar well diffusion method against the Candida
albicans (ATCC 10231). Fluconazole (25 µg) was the positive control and normal saline, and
distilled water were the negative controls. The crude extracts of E. serratus and A. concinna
were added individually (100 mg/mL) in 1:1, 1:2 and 2:1 combination ratios.
Results: The zone of inhibition (ZOI) of ethanol and aqueous extracts of E. serratus were
24.3±1.2 and 19.7±1.5 mm, respectively. It was 24±1 mm for fluconazole (25 µg). However,
both ethanol and aqueous extracts of A. concinna did not show any antifungal effect against C.
albicans. Furthermore, the mixtures of the ethanol extracts of A. concinna and E. serratus
showed ZOI as 20.3±0.57, 22.3±0.57 and 18.3±0.57 mm for the ratios of 1:1, 1:2 and 2:1,
respectively.
Conclusion: Both the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Elaeocarpus serratus have been
identified as plant extracts with anti-fungal activity against Candida albicans.
