Anti-Fungal Activity of Cressa cretica, Leptadenia pyrotechnica and Pulicaria crispa, Indigenous Plants of Cholistan Desert, Pakistan

Background: Fungal infections have always remained a problem and they are getting worse with the passage of each year due to their resistance against available antibiotics. Natural ways of treatment with homeopathic medicines made of mother tinctures of plants have no reported side effects and have been proved effective against many bacterial and fungal infections. Materials and Methods: Preparation of mother tinctures of plants Cressa cretica, Leptadenia pyrotechnica, and Pulicaria crispa was done and used to evaluate the anti-fungal potential of these plants against potentially pathogenic fungal species like Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus ustus, and Candida albicans by agar disc diffusion method. Each tincture was evaluated at 0.25 ml, 0.5 ml, and 1 ml volume per disc and zone of inhibition was measured in millimeters and compared with commercial drug Fluconazole (2 mg/ml), which was used as standard. Results: The results showed the satisfactory anti-fungal activity of these plants in comparison to the standard drug Fluconazole. The ratio of anti-fungal activity of Cressa cretica measured as the zone of growth inhibition of these cultures against Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus ustus, and Candida albicans was 24 mm / 27 mm, 30mm / 28 mm, 23 mm/ 30 mm, and 32 mm/ 30 mm, respectively. In the case of Leptadenia pyrotechnica, the mother tincture’s antifungal activity was 32 mm / 27 mm, 30 mm / 28 mm, 17 mm/ 30 mm, and 24 mm/ 30 mm, respectively. In the case of our third plant Pulicaria crispa, anti-fungal activity was found to be 23 mm/ 27 mm, 26 mm/ 28 mm, 26 mm / 30 mm and 24 mm/ 30 mm, respectively. Conclusion: Our study proved that the mother tincture of these plants could be a potential new therapy to treat fungal infections and has the potential to rule out fungal problems. Further research using the mother tincture of these plants against other fungal species has the potential to prove them a safer and widespread anti-fungal homeopathic medicine.