Preliminary antifungal and cytotoxicity studies of extracts of Ritchiea capparoides var. longipedicellata.

Crude extracts obtained from the leaves, stem bark and roots of Ritchiea capparoides var. longipedicellata were screened for in vitro antifungal activity using the agar tube dilution method. The leaf hexane, leaf methanol, stem bark methanol and root methanol extracts were tested using ten clinical strains of fungi at a concentration of 200 and 400 microg/ml, respectively. At 400 microg/ml, all four extracts inhibited the growth of six of the ten test fungi used in the study. Inhibition of the growth of Aspergillus niger by the extracts was also seen but the activity was low and the leaf hexane and root methanol extracts inhibited the growth of Drechslera rostrata. Only the leaf hexane extract was active against Curvularia lunata, while the growth of Candida albicans was not inhibited by any of the extracts. The inhibition of growth of almost all the microorganisms decreased at 200 microg, griseofulvin was included as a reference compound and methanol as the control. Preliminary cytotoxicity tests were done with the four extracts using the larvae of the brine shrimp, Artemia saline. The extracts were however found to be relatively non-toxic as each extract had an LD50 value greater than 1000 microg/ml.