Antifungal activity of integumentary extract of selected freshwater fish species against selected microbes

Abstract

The present study reports on the antifungal activity of integumentary secretions of four selected freshwater fish species viz., Catla (Labeo catla), Mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala), and Magur (Clarias batrachus) and Singhi (Heteropneustes fossilis) against the four important fungal strains namely Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus, Candida albicans and Fusarium solani. The result showed that different fish species have exhibited a varying level of inhibition effect on the selected fungal strains growth. Comparatively, the integumentary extract of Singhi has produced the best-controlling effect on the growth of selected fungal strains where the highest antifungal activity was shown against A. fumigatus (16±0.71 mm). The integumentary extract of Catla, when compared to its equivalents, exhibits the lowest antifungal activity among the fish species. The integumentary extracts of various fish species were discovered to have an inhibitory impact on the fungal species of A. fumigatus, however this effect was found to be least effective on these species. Overall, our findings indicated that the fish integumentary extracts of Singhi and Magur had antifungal properties that were comparable to those of the positive control ketoconazole and may therefore be advised for the future synthesis of prospective antifungal medicines.