Image Description

List of Publications by Department for the Academic Year Comparative study of the antifungal activity of Olea europaea L. against some pathogenic Candida albicans isolates in Lebanon.

Abstract

Olea europaea L. leaves and fruits contain several constituents with considerable pharmacological activities. The present study was designed to evaluate the antifungal activity of Lebanese olive against five strains of Candida albicans isolated in a Lebanese hospital. Olive leaves and pomace (cake) samples from three different locations were gathered and extracted differently to obtain three categories of extracts: ethanolic, cold aqueous and hot aqueous. The antifungal activity of these extracts was tested using well-diffusion method with average inhibition zone diameter that reached 27 mm. Two out of the tested extracts; cold aqueous extract of Akkar s cake and ethanolic extracts from Koura s leaves, showed antifungal activity against the growth of all isolates under investigation, with the lowest recorded MIC and MFC of 2.5 and 15 mg/ml, respectively for both extracts. The time kill assay showed that fungal cells died within 6 hours after their treatment with both selected extracts and the decimal reduction time (D-value) determined was 71-72 mins. Total phenolic content was found to be 98.03 GAE mg/g dry matter for ethanolic extracts of leaves from Koura and 91.76 GAE mg/g dry matter for cold aqueous extracts of cake from Akkar, which explains theirfungicidal actions and superiority among other tested extracts.

Author(s)

Mohammad Hassan Issam Halawy

Coauthor(s)

Prof. Hoda Yusef, Dr. Salwa Abdel Rahman