THE ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF Senna alata LEAF EXTRACT ON DERMATOPHYTES

Senna alata is an important ethno-medicinal plant belonging to febaceae family. The plant is widely used in traditional medicine for its laxative and antifungal properties. In the present study, the antifungal activity of the leaf of Senna alata on Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Trichophyton verrucosum were investigated. This experiment was designed to find out the level of antifungal activity of the leaf of Senna alata on some dermatophytes such as Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Trichophyton verrucosum. The extract was prepared using methanol and ethanol, and the antimicrobial activity was determined using the cup plate method. The result of this experiment showed that the ethanol and methanol crude extract of Senna alata Linn at concentration of 0.7 mg/ml, 0.9 mg/ml, 1 mg/ml, 2 g/ml and 3 g/ml showed no antifungal activity on the test dermatophytes: Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Trichophyton verrucosum. The phytochemical analysis showed that the extracts contain saponins, flavonoids, steroids, terpenoids, and glycosides but did not contain tannins and alkaloids. Despite the significant progress made in microbiology and the control of microorganisms, sporadic incidence of epidemics due to resistant microorganisms pose enormous threat to public health. The use of medicinal plants with antimicrobial activities needs to be given more attention to arrest the situation.