Abstract
Invasive candidiasis is a dangerous infection that can harm the blood, the heart, the brain, the eyes, the bones, and other bodily organs. Candidemia, a Candida-related bloodstream infection, is a prevalent illness among hospitalized patients. It might be difficult to tell whether symptoms are attributable to a Candida infection in people who have invasive candidiasis since they are often unwell from other medical issues. Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis are the most prevalent Candida species that cause infection in humans. Occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in candidal pathogens led to difficult in treatment of such infections. Consequently, there remains a strong need for new antimicrobial agents. Therefore, the present study focuses on evaluating the anti-candidal activity of the Ceiba pentandra pod extracts against candidiasis causing C. albicans and C. tropicalis. Bioactive compounds of the pods were extracted using methanol as solvent. DPPH radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay were performed. The pod extracts showed evident anticandidal activity and lower MIC levels of 31.5 mg and 15.6 mg against C. albicans and C. tropicalis. Further, pod extracts also showed better antioxidant values, 68.31 +/- 0.43% of DPPH scavenging and 61.8 +/- 0.87% of reducing power was observed on 1000 mu g of extract. From the analysis, the bioactive compounds from Ceiba pentandra pods showed significant candidal inhibition activity and therefore can he used for treatment of candidiasis.