Antifungal activity of successive extracts of Citrus limon peel for an antidandruff shampoo formulation Segaran Raaginie AP Tamil1, Ng Chean Hui1,*, Al-Dhalli Samer1 1School of Pharmacy, Management & Science University, Malaysia *Corresponding Author: Dr. Ng Chean Hui, Senior Lecturer, Pharmaceutical Chemistry Unit, School of Pharmacy, Management & Science University, Malaysia. Email: chng@msu.edu.my
Online published on 21 August, 2020. Abstract The peel of Citrus limon which is a rich source of acid contents had been identified as the potential anti-fungal as well as anti-dandruff agent. This study was aimed to focus on determining the best solvent responsible for extraction of maximum active anti-fungal constituents. Defatted peel powder of C. limon was successively extracted with chloroform, ethanol and water using Soxhlet extractor. Phytochemical tests were done for all extracts. The anti-fungal activity against Candida albicans of all extracts was determined using well diffusion methods at three concentrations: 50, 100 & 200mg/mL followed by minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) determination using well dilution method. The extract showing best anti-fungal activity was chosen for formulation and evaluation. Flavonoids presence in all extracts while ethanol is considered as the optimal solvent to obtain various phytochemical constituents. The ethanolic extract exhibited the highest anti-fungal activity (MIC=6.25mg/mL) when compared to other extracts (MIC≥25mg/mL). All extract showed antifungal activity with zone of inhibition (ZOI) ranging from 7.00–19.67mm while ethanolic extract demonstrated the highest ZOI (19.67±0.09mm) at 200mg/mL. Analysis carried out using one-way ANOVA indicated no significant different between extracts and standard (p>0.05) when compared individually at all concentrations except for petroleum ether extract. The promising anti-fungal activity from ethanolic extract was due to the presence of various secondary metabolites. Top Keywords Citrus limon, anti-fungal, successively extracted, Candida albicans. Top |