ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF OILS EXTRACTED FROM CERTAIN MEDICINAL PLANTS AGAINST SELECTED FUNGI

Fungal infections are believed to affect over a billion individuals each year, with recent research indicating that the number is rising. This study aimed to evaluate the antagonistic activity of extracted plant oils' to control of some selected fungi and identify the active phytochemicals present in the oils extracted. The study included the isolation, purification, and identification of some selected fungi which were collected from 4 different environmental (canal around the University of Baghdad Al- Jadriah campus / Baghdad - Iraq). Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Cryptococcus albidus, and Penicillium sp were the identified fungi. five plants from different families were collected and their oils extracted, Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Mentha spicata (aerial parts), Zingiber officinale (rhizomes), Adonis aestivalis (seeds), and Melia azedarach (fruits). High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) used to unveil the chemical composition of their oils extracted. The antifungal activity of the extracted oils was evaluated at different (0.05-15%). The results revealed that the E. camaldulensis essential oil concentrations (0.05, 0.5, 1, and 3%) had the strongest inhibitory effect against A. niger, A. flavus and Penicillium sp., but M. spicata essential oil was significant in its antifungal activity, with 100% inhibition of the A. niger, A. flavus and Penicillium sp. As a result, more research is needed to verify the action of oil extracts against various pathogenic bacteria and fungi and investigate the probability of drug firms adopting these extracts or their active components.