Antimicrobial activity of the ethanol extract and compounds from the rhizomes of Kaempferia parviflora

Abstract

The antimicrobial activity of the ethanol extract of Kaempferia parviflora was tested against human pathogens,including bacteria, yeast and dermatophyte fungi, using the agar disc diffusion. The ethanol extract exhibited strong antifungalactivity against dermatophytes with clear zone values from 10.7-19.8 mm at concentration of 2 mg/disc. However,ethanol extract showed no activities against all bacteria and yeast tested. The ethanol extract and seven compounds of K.parviflora were further studied using agar dilution method against dermatophytes. It was found that the ethanol extract of K.parviflora exhibited strong anti-fungal activity against Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Microsporumgypseum with MIC values of 62.5, 125 and 250 mg/ml, respectively. Only compound 6 (3, 5, 7-trimethoxyflavone) present inthis extract showed appreciable anti-fungal activity with MIC values of 250 mg/ml against these three dermatophytes.According to the obtained results, compound 6 could be responsible only in part of the antifungal effect of theEtOH extract. The antifungal activity of the EtOH extract of K. parviflora supports its traditional use for the treatment ofdermatophyte infections

Keywords

• antimicrobial activity
• antibacterial activity
• antifungal activity
• Kaempferia parviflora