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Abstract
Antifungal Activity of Ethanolic Extracts from the Rhizomes of Zingiberaceae Plants
†
Patamaporn Pruksakorn *, ‡ , Kanjarat Settasupana*, Nanthawan Mekha , Rinrapas
†
Autthateinchai , Panadda Dhepakson*, Angkana Herunsalee*
*Medical Life Sciences Institute, Department of Medical Sciences, Nonthaburi 11000, Thailand.
†
National Institute of Health, Department of Medical Sciences, Nonthaburi 11000, Thailand.
‡
Corresponding author: patamaporn.p@dmsc.mail.go.th
Rationale and Objective: Dermatophytosis is a fungal infection of the skin caused by any of
dermatophytes and can be treated with currently available antifungal medication. Moreover, the
infection can be cured with medicinal plants topically applied on the infected area. In Thai folk
medicine, many medicinal plants have been claimed to be effective for treating dermatitis. How-
ever, some of them still lack scientific data for supporting the effectiveness of treatment. The
objective of this study was to investigate antifungal activities of ethanolic extracts from the rhi-
zomes of plants in the Zingiberaceae family.
Methodology: The ethanolic rhizome extracts of 15 Zingiberaceae species were tested for
antifungal activities against Candida albicans and three dermatophytes, i.e. Trichophyton rubrum,
Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Microsporum gypseum using a broth microdilution assay.
Results: Amongst 15 extracts, the rhizomes of Curcuma amada Roxb. and Zingiber ottensii
Valeton exhibited the most potent antifungal activities against both the yeast and dermatophytes
with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of less than 50 and 6.25 μg/mL, respec-
tively. They showed the minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) values of 100 μg/mL to C.
albicans and 3.13 - 6.25 μg/mL to T. rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, and M. gypseum.
Discussion and Conclusion: The rhizomes of C. amada and Z. ottensii showed potent anti-
fungal activities and could kill all tested fungi. Therefore, both plants might be promising sources
for the isolation of antifungal substances and the formulation of antifungal drugs.
Key words: Curcuma amada Roxb., Zingiber ottensii Valeton, antifungal, fungicidal, Zingiberaceae