7. Evaluation of antifungal and anti-inflammatory effect on methanolic extract of Wedelia chinensis leaves

Wedelia chinensis is one of the medicinal plants having great potency in treating certain common diseases traditionally. In view of identifying its active components responsible for its medicinal value, attempt is made for the quantitative analysis of phytochemicals by GC – MS. The various concentrations of leaf extracts were investigated for its antifungal and anti inflammatory activities in Balb/c mice model. The antifungal activity of methanolic extract of Wedelia chinensis was analyzed and assessed by the minimal fungicidal concentration. The concentrations of 150, 250, 500 μg/mL were found to have higher inhibition over the fungal species selected for the study. These concentrations were therefore taken for the confirmation of the antifungal activity by zone of inhibition and the result reveals that the extract shows significant antifungal activity with P <0.01 when compared with the positive control. The anti-inflammatory effect of leaf extract was studied against induced inflammatory oedema with different inflammatory agents such as, Carrageenan, egg-albumin, formalin, xylene and formaldehyde in Balb/c mice. The methanolic extract of Wedelia chinensis was given in the form of suspension in 2% gum acacia in two different doses, 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight. The result showed a significant reduction [P <0.05-0.01] in inflammation in both the concentration of extracts used. The higher concentration 500 mg/kg gives the faster reduction in inflammation than the 250 mg/kg when compared with the standard drug, diclofenac sodium. The GC-MS study was performed to find out the major active phytochemical compounds in the essential oil of the fresh leaves of Wedelia chinensis. The result indicates that the extract contains Carvocrol-46% and trans-Caryophyllene-14% as major phytochemical constituents which may be responsible for its antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties.