Journal of Plant Sciences

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Efficacy of Selected Medicinal Plants from Eastern Kenya against Aspergillus flavus

Received: 27 May 2014    Accepted: 30 July 2014    Published: 30 October 2014
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Abstract

Aflatoxins are a major problem in Eastern Province of Kenya and Aspergillus flavus has been associated with frequent outbreaks of aflatoxicoses in this region. This study evaluated the efficacy of 15 selected medicinal plants from Eastern Kenya against A. flavus. Different concentrations of 1000mg/ml, 750mg/ml and 400mg/ml using Agar Well Diffusion Method were used. Plants found to have inhibition zones of more than 10mm at 400mg/ml had their bark further assayed for antifungal activity. Both the leaf and bark extracts that were found to be effective were assayed for minimum inhibition concentrations (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFC) using Sabouraund Dextrose broth (SDB) micro-dilution method. The methanolic leaf and bark extracts of the fifteen plants assayed displayed concentration depended antifungal activities that was comparable to that of the reference drug Miconazole at 10mg/ml. Leaf extracts showed better antifungal activity than the bark extracts. For instance, Boscia coriacea (mean 17.40mm) had the highest zone of inhibition followed by Zanthoxylem chalybeum (mean 17.20mm). For the bark extracts, Croton megalocarpus (mean 15.0mm) recorded significantly high antifungal activity while Tithonia diversfolia (mean 13.0mm) had the lowest at 400mg/ml. Senna siamea had the lowest MIC and MFC of 6.25mg/ml and 12.5mg/ml respectively. The preliminary phytochemical analysis of the 15 effective medicinal plants revealed the presence of bioactive compounds that included tannins, saponins, flavonoids, terpenoids, cardiac glycosides and alkaloids. The results obtained from the study could be used as a viable management strategy against A. flavus and aflatoxins in the region so as to ensure low mycotoxin exposure as well as low environmental pollution.

DOI 10.11648/j.jps.20140205.22
Published in Journal of Plant Sciences (Volume 2, Issue 5, October 2014)
Page(s) 226-231
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Aspergillus flavus, Aflatoxins, Antifungal Activity, Bioactivity, Phytochemicals

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Author Information
  • Kenyatta University, Department of Microbiology, Nairobi, Kenya, P. O. Box 43844-00100, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Kenyatta University, Department of Microbiology, Nairobi, Kenya, P. O. Box 43844-00100, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Kenyatta University, Department of Microbiology, Nairobi, Kenya, P. O. Box 43844-00100, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Kenya Medical Research Institute, Center for Microbiology, P. O. BOX 54840-00200, Mbagathi Way, Nairobi City, Kenya

  • Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Institute for Biotechnology Research, P. O. Box 6200-00200, Nairobi, Kenya

Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Theddeus M. Kiswii, Ethel O. Monda, Paul O. Okemo, Christine Bii, Amos E. Alakonya. (2014). Efficacy of Selected Medicinal Plants from Eastern Kenya against Aspergillus flavus. Journal of Plant Sciences, 2(5), 226-231. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20140205.22

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    ACS Style

    Theddeus M. Kiswii; Ethel O. Monda; Paul O. Okemo; Christine Bii; Amos E. Alakonya. Efficacy of Selected Medicinal Plants from Eastern Kenya against Aspergillus flavus. J. Plant Sci. 2014, 2(5), 226-231. doi: 10.11648/j.jps.20140205.22

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    AMA Style

    Theddeus M. Kiswii, Ethel O. Monda, Paul O. Okemo, Christine Bii, Amos E. Alakonya. Efficacy of Selected Medicinal Plants from Eastern Kenya against Aspergillus flavus. J Plant Sci. 2014;2(5):226-231. doi: 10.11648/j.jps.20140205.22

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jps.20140205.22,
      author = {Theddeus M. Kiswii and Ethel O. Monda and Paul O. Okemo and Christine Bii and Amos E. Alakonya},
      title = {Efficacy of Selected Medicinal Plants from Eastern Kenya against Aspergillus flavus},
      journal = {Journal of Plant Sciences},
      volume = {2},
      number = {5},
      pages = {226-231},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jps.20140205.22},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20140205.22},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jps.20140205.22},
      abstract = {Aflatoxins are a major problem in Eastern Province of Kenya and Aspergillus flavus has been associated with frequent outbreaks of aflatoxicoses in this region. This study evaluated the efficacy of 15 selected medicinal plants from Eastern Kenya against A. flavus. Different concentrations of 1000mg/ml, 750mg/ml and 400mg/ml using Agar Well Diffusion Method were used. Plants found to have inhibition zones of more than 10mm at 400mg/ml had their bark further assayed for antifungal activity. Both the leaf and bark extracts that were found to be effective were assayed for minimum inhibition concentrations (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFC) using Sabouraund Dextrose broth (SDB) micro-dilution method. The methanolic leaf and bark extracts of the fifteen plants assayed displayed concentration depended antifungal activities that was comparable to that of the reference drug Miconazole at 10mg/ml. Leaf extracts showed better antifungal activity than the bark extracts. For instance, Boscia coriacea (mean 17.40mm) had the highest zone of inhibition followed by Zanthoxylem chalybeum (mean 17.20mm). For the bark extracts, Croton megalocarpus (mean 15.0mm) recorded significantly high antifungal activity while Tithonia diversfolia (mean 13.0mm) had the lowest at 400mg/ml. Senna siamea had the lowest MIC and MFC of 6.25mg/ml and 12.5mg/ml respectively. The preliminary phytochemical analysis of the 15 effective medicinal plants revealed the presence of bioactive compounds that included tannins, saponins, flavonoids, terpenoids, cardiac glycosides and alkaloids. The results obtained from the study could be used as a viable management strategy against A. flavus and aflatoxins in the region so as to ensure low mycotoxin exposure as well as low environmental pollution.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Efficacy of Selected Medicinal Plants from Eastern Kenya against Aspergillus flavus
    AU  - Theddeus M. Kiswii
    AU  - Ethel O. Monda
    AU  - Paul O. Okemo
    AU  - Christine Bii
    AU  - Amos E. Alakonya
    Y1  - 2014/10/30
    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20140205.22
    DO  - 10.11648/j.jps.20140205.22
    T2  - Journal of Plant Sciences
    JF  - Journal of Plant Sciences
    JO  - Journal of Plant Sciences
    SP  - 226
    EP  - 231
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2331-0731
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20140205.22
    AB  - Aflatoxins are a major problem in Eastern Province of Kenya and Aspergillus flavus has been associated with frequent outbreaks of aflatoxicoses in this region. This study evaluated the efficacy of 15 selected medicinal plants from Eastern Kenya against A. flavus. Different concentrations of 1000mg/ml, 750mg/ml and 400mg/ml using Agar Well Diffusion Method were used. Plants found to have inhibition zones of more than 10mm at 400mg/ml had their bark further assayed for antifungal activity. Both the leaf and bark extracts that were found to be effective were assayed for minimum inhibition concentrations (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFC) using Sabouraund Dextrose broth (SDB) micro-dilution method. The methanolic leaf and bark extracts of the fifteen plants assayed displayed concentration depended antifungal activities that was comparable to that of the reference drug Miconazole at 10mg/ml. Leaf extracts showed better antifungal activity than the bark extracts. For instance, Boscia coriacea (mean 17.40mm) had the highest zone of inhibition followed by Zanthoxylem chalybeum (mean 17.20mm). For the bark extracts, Croton megalocarpus (mean 15.0mm) recorded significantly high antifungal activity while Tithonia diversfolia (mean 13.0mm) had the lowest at 400mg/ml. Senna siamea had the lowest MIC and MFC of 6.25mg/ml and 12.5mg/ml respectively. The preliminary phytochemical analysis of the 15 effective medicinal plants revealed the presence of bioactive compounds that included tannins, saponins, flavonoids, terpenoids, cardiac glycosides and alkaloids. The results obtained from the study could be used as a viable management strategy against A. flavus and aflatoxins in the region so as to ensure low mycotoxin exposure as well as low environmental pollution.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

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