Abstract
Gui Zhen Cao is an herbal formulation that has been documented in Chinese traditional medicine as a remedy for diarrhea, dysentery, inflammation, and toxicity. The sources of this formulation (
Bidens pilosa
L.,
Bidens biternata
(Lour.) Merr. & Sherff,
Bidens bipinnata
L.) are also listed in ethnomedicinal reports all over the world. In this study, all these plants are tested for in vitro anticandida activity. A quantitative evaluation of the phytochemicals in all these plants indicated that their vegetative parts are rich in tannins, saponins, oxalates, cyanogenic glycoside and lipids; moreover, the roots have high percentages of alkaloids, flavonoids, and phenols. The results indicated significant anticandida activity, especially for the hexane extract of
B. bipinnata
leaves which inhibited
C. albicans
(42.54%),
C. glabrata
(46.98%),
C. tropicalis
(50.89%),
C. krusei
(40.56%), and
C. orthopsilosis
(50.24%). The extract was subjected to silica gel chromatography and 220 fractions were obtained. Purification by High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Diode-Array Detection (HPLC–DAD) and Gas Chromatography tandem Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) analysis led to the identification of two anticandida compounds: dehydroabietic and linoleic acid having an inhibition of 85 and 92%, respectively.