Synergistic antifungal activity of the combination of turmeric (Curcuma longa) rhizome and aloe vera linne (Aloe barbadensis) leaf extracts on candida albicans.

Abstract

Introduction: Turmeric rhizome and Aloe vera leaf extracts can be used as natural herbal plant medicines to cure Candidiasis since these two plants have antifungal property that can inhibit the growth of Candida albicans as the most common Candida species that cause Candidiasis. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the Synergistic Antifungal Activity of the combination of Curcuma longa rhizome and Aloe barbadensis leaf Extracts on Candida albicans. Materials and methods: The prepared ethanolic extracts from Curcuma longa, Aloe vera and the combination of the two plant extracts were investigated for antifungal activity against Candida albicans via in vitro study at various concentrations using the disc agar diffusion method. Results: The combination of Aloe vera and Curcuma longa extracts only at 25 mg/ml concentration had statistically highly significant effect against the growth of Candida albicans with an average zone of inhibition of 9.25 1.71 mm after using One-way ANOVA to find the statistically significance difference among three categorical extracts. Then Bonferroni method as one of multiple comparison tests (post hoc tests) was used to find out how the three extracts differ among themselves. With Curcuma longa extract and Aloe vera extract with mean diameters of the zone of inhibition as 6.50 0.70 mm and 6.430.58 mm respectively, there was no significant difference between antifungal effects of Aloe vera and Curcuma longa extracts against Candida albicans at 25 mg/ml. With the concentrations of 50 mg/ml and 100 mg/ml, there was no statistically significant difference among the three extracts when used. Conclusion: Basing on the results obtained from this study, the combination of Aloe vera leaf and Curcuma longa rhizome extracts showed highly significant antifungal activity against the growth of Candida albicans at the concentration of 25 mg/ml. It was further found out to be a concentration-dependent reaction since the antifungal activity of plant extracts varied with the concentration of the extracts. Key words: Curcuma longa, Aloe barbadensis, Candida albicans, Synergistic Antifungal Activity, Disc agar diffusion method.