Inhibitory effect of garlic and omam extracts on Mucor circinelloides, a fungus causing mucormycosis: An in vitro study

CONTEXT: Mucor circinelloides is reported to be the second among the most common causative agents of emerging mucormycosis. It is intrinsically resistant to most known antifungals. Further the use of antifungals cause side effects. Traditional knowledge system for treating various ailments is stronger in India and it also backs deriving various bioactive compounds from herbal sources, in the modern system of medicine. Therefore, two most commonly used culinary herbal materials viz., ginger and omam were studied in vitro against M. circinelloides, as an alternate to antifungal drugs. AIMS: To explore the traditional herbal resources as alternate to Amphotericin B to use against M. circinelloides, a fungus causing mucormycosis. METHODS AND MATERIAL: Aqueous extracts of garlic and omam were prepared and tested against M. circinelloides, at different concentrations. A positive control with Amphotericin B and negative control without any supplements were also maintained. The inhibitory effect was assessed by adopting optical density (OD) measurement method in SD broth and SD Agar Well Plate using spore suspension as inoculum. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Paired student T test was employed using SPSS Version 1.6. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Both garlic and omam extracts were found to inhibit the M. circinelloides and their MICs were 600 and 700 μL/mL. It is comparable with the MIC of Amphotericin B, 200 μg/mL. Thus, the regular use of garlic and omam can reduce the risk of possible mucormycosis and these herbs can be explored for drug formulations against M. circinelloides.