Importance of the ethnomedical information for the detection of antifungal properties in extracts from plants of the Argentine flora

PETENATTI, E.; GETTE, M.; DERITA, M.; PETENATTI, M.; SOLÍS, C.; ZULJAN, F.; DEL VITTO, L.; ZACCHINO, S.

South American Medicinal Plants as a Potential Source of Bioactive Compounds

Transworld Research Network

Lugar: Kerala (India); Año: 2008; p. 15 - 38

An analysis of the NAPRALERT database on plants tested for antifungal properties so far is presented in this work. A bibliographic survey on plants used in Argentina for the treatment of symptoms of fungal infections (dandruff, athlete?s foot, venereal diseases, healing of infected wounds among others) in Argentina was also performed. To determine the most important mode of selection of plants for the detection of antifungal agents, we prepared three groups of plants extracts and tested them with the microbroth dilution assay recommended by the CLSI against a panel of fungi which are the causative agents of the most common fungal infections. The first group of plants contains species used in the traditional medicine of Argentina. The second group comprises species not used in the traditional medicine as antifungals but belonging to a genus that includes other ethnomedical species reputed as antifungals. The third group was formed by plants selected at random. The analysis of the antifungal properties of each group has demonstrated that the ethnomedical information is highly valuable in the discovery of antifungal extracts with a 60 % of positive extracts, followed by the group selected by similar genera than those used in traditional medicine (24%). Random selection rendered only 16 % of positivity in the detection of antifungal activity.