PJB-2017-823
In Vitro EVALUATION OF EXTRACTS FROM Acorus calamus COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE RHIZOME VIS-À-VIS ANTI-FUNGAL, ANTI-YEAST AND ANTIOXIDANT POTENCY
Bilal Muhammad Khan
Abstract
This study evaluates the antifungal, anti-yeast and antioxidant potency of various extracts from the commercially available rhizome of Acorus calamus. The most usual form of drying for herbal practitioners is sun-drying due to its cost-effectiveness and simplicity of handling. This choice of drying regime, however, does not guarantee conservation of the desired medicinal value of the dried plant material due to the volatile and/or light-sensitive nature of many active compounds. Extremely low antifungal activities (25.0% inhibition at 2 mg.well-1 against Rhizopus oryzae) indicated the unsuitability of sun-drying, used in the case of commercially available rhizome, with regards to this activity. The various extracts were, though, moderately effective in controlling the growth of the yeast Candida albicans (59.7% inhibition at 2 mg.disc-1). This suggested that the active ingredients responsible for these activities are highly volatile and/or light sensitive and hence sun-drying should be avoided if the end-product is intended to have antifungal and anti-yeast potency. Conversely, the extracts were highly efficient vis-à-vis DPPH radical scavenging ability (97.8% activity at 250 ppm) suggesting that sun-drying can be employed in such case particularly taking into consideration the lowered energy consumption and reduced duration of this drying regime. Furthermore, it was observed that there is a strong possibility that the compounds lost due to sun-drying are those soluble in methanol and hexane.
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