Morphological, phytochemical and antifungal analysis of Aloe vera L. leaf extracts

This study was undertaken with the aim of analysing some morphological parameters, screening of important phytochemical compounds and the activity of Aloe vera leaf extracts against two fungal species viz; Aspergillus niger and Rhizopus. Morphological assessment of A. vera plant showed significant differences in leaf and root attributes including its color, length and weight under both dried and fresh form. Pendulous and yellow to whitish color flowers were found. Phytochemical analysis of glycosides, steroids, flavonoids, reducing sugar, phenolic compounds, terpenoids, carbohydrates, amino acid, tannins and saponin gave positive consequences and negative for cyanogenic glycosides in both the methanol and ethanol leaf extracts. Alkaloids were found only in the methanol extract but not in that of ethanol extract. Glycosides, reducing sugar, phenolic compounds, steroids, terpenoids, carbohydrates, flavonoids, saponins and tannins were present in the aqueous extract. Both methanolic and ethanolic extracts of A. vera showed significantly greater inhibitory effect whereas aqueous extracts were found with lesser inhibitory effect against Rhizopus and A. niger. This investigation strongly suggests A. vera plant leaf extracts with ethanol and methanol as better antifungal candidates.

[1]  James P. Tam,et al.  Antimicrobial Peptides from Plants , 2015, Pharmaceuticals.

[2]  I. Rocha,et al.  Aloe Vera (Gel) , 2015 .

[3]  R. Gahukar.  Evaluation of plant-derived products against pests and diseases of medicinal plants: A review , 2012 .

[4]  A. S. Agbaji,et al.  Phtyochemical screening and comparative study of antimicrobial activity of Aloe vera various extracts , 2011 .

[5]  M. Rizza,et al.  Antifungal activity of medicinal plant extracts against phytopathogenic fungus Alternaria spp. , 2011 .

[6]  S. Muhammad,et al.  ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF SOME NIGERIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS , 2010 .

[7]  Vasant Ranade,et al.  Medicinal Chemistry Of Bioactive Natural Products , 2003 .

[8]  F. Beland,et al.  An Evaluation of the Biological and Toxicological Properties of Aloe Barbadensis (Miller), Aloe Vera , 2006, Journal of environmental science and health. Part C, Environmental carcinogenesis & ecotoxicology reviews.

[9]  C. Selitrennikoff.  Antifungal Proteins , 2001, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[10]  E. Ernst.  Adverse effects of herbal drugs in dermatology , 2000, The British journal of dermatology.

[11]  A C Dweck,et al.  Aloe vera leaf gel: a review update. , 1999, Journal of ethnopharmacology.

[12]  E Ernst,et al.  Aloe vera: a systematic review of its clinical effectiveness. , 1999, The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners.

[13]  A. Osbourn,et al.  Fungal Resistance to Plant Antibiotics as a Mechanism of Pathogenesis , 1999, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews.

[14]  M. Delignette-Muller,et al.  An accurate diffusion method for determining bacterial sensitivity to antibiotics. , 1994, The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy.

[15]  B. Meurer-Grimes,et al.  The Organic Constituents of Higher Plants. , 1992 .

[16]  R M Shelton,et al.  Aloe vera , 1991, International journal of dermatology.

[17]  D. Hoffmann.  The New Holistic Herbal , 1991 .

[18]  B. Freeman,et al.  An Overview of Plant Defenses against Pathogens and Herbivores , 2008 .

[19]  Yan-wen Wu,et al.  Antimicrobial Properties and Toxicity of Anthraquinones by Microcalorimetric Bioassay , 2006 .

[20]  Young In Park,et al.  Perspective of industrial application of Aloe vera , 2006 .

[21]  Johan P. E. Karlberg,et al.  General Guidelines for Methodologies on Research and Evaluation of Traditional Medicine , 2001 .

[22]  J. Harborne.  Methods of Plant Analysis , 1984 .

[23]  Abayomi Sofowora,et al.  Medicinal plants and traditional medicine in Africa , 1982 .

[24]  H. Burger.  Neuroendocrine control of human ovulation. , 1981, International journal of fertility.

[25]  T. Robinson.  Chemical Botany. (Biological and Medical Sciences: The Organic Constituents of Higher Plants. Their chemistry and interrelationships) , 1963 .