Abstract

IN VITRO EVALUATION OF ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY IN THREE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF COSTUS

G. Sulakshana* and A. Sabitha Rani

Abstract

Antifungal activity of the three species of Costus (Costus speciosus, Costus pictus and Costus igneus) was evaluated in vitro against eight different fungal species by employing various concentrations of methanolic rhizome extract (0.5 –2.0 mg). The rhizome extract inhibited the growth of all the test fungi and maximum activity was observed at 2.0 mg concentration in all the three species. The zone of inhibition ranged from 9mm to 18mm in various fungal species and increased with the increase in the concentration of test solution. Among the three species, C.pictus showed slightly higher antifungal activity followed by C.speciosus and C.igneus. High zone of inhibition was observed against Cladosporium. This was followed by Colletotricum crassipes, Armillaria mellea, Colletotricum capsici, Rhizopus oryzae and Candida albicans. Lesser inhibition was found for Aspergillus terreus and Aspergillus niger.

Keywords: Antifungal activity, Costus species, Bioassay, Zone of inhibition, Rhizome extract.