Determination of potential antifungal activity of methanolic extract of andrographis paniculata leaves against isolated fungus from moldy bread / Nur Nabilah Tan

Andrographis paniculata which is also known as “Kind of Bitter” (English) or Hempedu Bumi (Malay) belongs to the family Acanthaceae which is an important medical plant that has been widely used in southern Asia to treat infections and other diseases. A. paniculata has been used as antibiotic, antiviral, antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, anticancer, anti-HIV and anti-allergic agent. A. paniculata leaves was collected and authentication was performed. Leaves were extracted with methanol. The fungus samples was collected from moldy bread and cultured on Sabouraud Dextrose agar (SDA). The fungal isolated was identified through macroscopic and microscopic characteristics. The antifungal assay was performed using the disc diffusion method by tested the isolated against different concentration of methanolic extract of Andrographis paniculata leaves at 1000, 500, 250, 125, 62.5 and 31.25 mg/ml respectively. Based on the macroscopic and microscopic characteristics, it was suggested that the isolated fungus is presumptively identified as Penicillium species. There was no inhibition zone observed when different concentrations of methanolic extract of Andrograophis paniculata leaves were used within study tested against the isolated fungus. Based on this study, the isolated fungus from moldy bread was presumptively identified as Penicillium specices and all the different concentrations of methanolic extracts of Andrographis paniculata did not show any inhibitory effects towards isolated fungus.