IN VITRO ANTIBACTERIAL, ANTIDERMATOPHYTE AND ANTICANDIDA POTENTIALS OF DIFFERENT ORGANIC EXTRACTS AND TOTAL ALCALOIDS OF INDIAN THORN APPLE (DATURA METEL L.) FROM TUNISIA

Abstract

Leaf and seed extracts of Datura metel, a species known as a folkloric medicinal plant in Tunisia, were prepared with different solvents: PE, CH2Cl2, ACOEt and MeOH. Both the leaves and seed samples contained alkaloids, tannins, saponins, Iridoids, and flavonoids. Extracts were tested in vitro for antimicrobial activity against 9 fungi and 11 bacteria. Results have shown that different extracts have various levels of inhibition against all tested bacterial species (with MIC varied from 0.625 to 10 mg/mL). Differences in antibacterial activities between seed and leaf extracts were also observed. The highest inhibition potentials were shown for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis strains. Most fungi are quite resistant to PE and CH2Cl2 extracts at concentrations lower than 500 µg/mL, while the ACOEt and MeOH extracts demonstrated the greatest antifungal potential. The MIC against Aspergillus fumigatus, was found to be the lowest (62.5 µg/mL). The most promising results were shown against Candida albicans, which was totally inhibited by 250 µg/mL of both ACOEt and MeOH extracts. Findings from this study highlight not only the rich antibacterial potentials of D. metel, but also its very effective antidermatophytic and anticandidose activities, thus recommending the use of this plant against certain skin diseases.