Antifungal Activity of Different Solvent Extracts From Stem and Leaf of Cassia fistula

Cassia fistula has been recognized as a multipurpose medicinal plant which has been used to treat blood disorders, cardiac problems, diabetic mellitus, and skin diseases in Ayurvedic medicine. This study aimed to investigate the antifungal activity of different extracts of stem and leaf of C. fistula against Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans as in-vitro. The plant parts of C. fistula were collected in Kurunegala, Sri Lanka. It was cleaned, shade- dried and powered. The powdered parts were macerated with petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and methanol separately. The antifungal activity was determined using agar well diffusion method against tested fungi by employing Itraconazole as the standard. The extracts were screened for phytochemicals separately. The obtained diameter of zones of inhibition (mm) of the extracts was evaluated via analysis of variance (ANOVA) (P<0.05) by using SPSS (version 25). The results indicated that all the extracts of C. fistula showed antifungal activity against A. niger and C. albicans except petroleum ether extract of the stem, which showed no activity against A. niger. Phytochemical analysis revealed that the extracts of C. fistula contain different phytochemicals including alkaloids, terpenoids, tannins and phenolic compounds which were responsible for the antifungal activity. The inhibitory effects showed by standard, and extract of C. fistula differed significantly (P<0.05). Further identification of antifungal active phytochemicals present in the extracts facilitates the formulation of new pharmaceuticals.