Photochemical Screening and Antifungal Activity of Faidherbia albida Roots

Abstract

Faidherbia albida Dell. (Mimosodceae), locally known as alharaz. All plant parts have an 
important role in traditional medicine except for the root part. The study aims to quantify 
the alkaloids in the Faidherbia albida root chloroform extract and to assess the antifungal 
activity of the roots chloroform extract against three pathogenic fungi: Aspergillus 
fusarium, Aspergillus fulvus, and Candida albicans. The primary phytochemical analysis 
of chloroform extract showed the presence of alkaloids, diterpenes and flavonoids, 
Saponins and phytosterols, but glycosides were not detected. The yield percentage of the 
raw maceration extract is 3.8%. In thin-layer chromatography (TLC), it revealed the 
detection of one compound under U V light as light blue spots (RF 0.833). The total alkaloid 
content in the chloroform roots extract was 121.142mg AE/g, while the total phenol content 
is 53.960mg GAE/g. The extract at concentration 200mg/ml revealed no inhibition effect 
against all microorganisms tested except Candida albicans (17mm). This study found that 
Faidherbia albida contains a high concentration of alkaloids compared with the other plant 
parts and moderate phenol content compared with the leaves part, as well as anticandidal 
activity against both the standard and isolated strain tested.