Khaldi, A; Meddah, B; Moussaoui, A; Benmehdi, H; Gouri, S
This work focused on the study of the antifungal activity of medicinal plants extracts (Asphodelus tenuifolius Cavan and Zygophyllum album L.) collected from South- West of Algerian Sahara. Aerial part from each plant was used for extraction by three solvents with growth polarity( hexane, methanol and water). Among all solvents, water gave the best extraction yield (17.40%) for Zygophyllum album L and (16.48%) for Asphodelus tenuifolius Cavan. Phytochemical study showed that the both plants are rich in tannins and showed the presence of saponins, flavonoids, steroids, unsaturated sterols and terpenes, while cardenolides and alkaloids were be found only in Z.album L. Different extracts of plants were tested on seven fungal strains in order to evaluate their antifungal activity. The results of directed contact method on mycelial growth and at concentration of 1500μg showed that A. tenuifolius cavan extracts were more active in comparison with extracts of Z .album L. For the first plant, the most important effect was observed for the methanolic extract, where, P. expansium, A. ochraceus, Alternaria and Cladosporium are most sensitive, with inhibitions percentages of 76,19%; 78,57%; 83,33% and 94,44%, respectively. Whereas , for Z. album L the fungal sensitivity was observed for the hexanic extract, where A. Niger and Alternaria strains showed to be most sensitive with an an inhibition of 61,54% and % et 64%, respectively. In addition to the growth mycelium, the different plants extracts showed, in vitro, an important antifungal activity on germination and sporulation of all fungi. © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2012.