Antifungal Activity Of Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis Against Candida Albicans

Traditional Medicine has been practiced since ancient times throughout the world and has been a part of the human evolution and development. The Philippines is known as a country that uses plants as alternative health care. In fact, there are various plants that Filipino traditional medical practitioners have been prescribing since the pre-colonial period.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is an evergreen shrub that belongs to the cotton family Malvaceae. It is a plant endemic to South East Asia and is grown ornamentally worldwide. The flowers are commonly used to be an anti-asthmatic agent. This plant has been found to contain many chemical constituents such as cyanidin, quercetin, hentriacontane, calcium oxalate, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and ascorbic acids. The Hibiscus plant has been scientifically proven to hold medical properties that can help human beings through different researches conducted. It is very well known to be a herbal remedy in western countries, to help cure common ailments such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, and inflammation of the immune system and inflammatory problems. Hibiscus also provides weight loss, nutritional benefits for the body and shows potential for preventing cancer.

Recent studies have shown that extract of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis coming from the different parts of the plant has significant protective effects, furthermore, this plant have a great medicinal potential to cure infections. Its flowers and leaves have been found out to have an antioxidant, antifungal, anti-infectious, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-diarrheic and antipyretic activity. Recent studies about the antibacterial potential of H. rosa-sinensis from the methanolic extract of its leaf and flower have proven its capability as an antibacterial plant. C. albicans is a dimorphic fungus which grows as yeast at 30°C and as a filamentous or hyphal form at 37°C. It is a part of the normal human microbiome. It resides as a lifelong, harmless commensal. However, several factors and activities had been found out to contribute to the pathogenic potential of C. albicans which can cause infections that range from superficial infections of the skin to life-threatening systemic infections.

C. albicans asymptomatically colonize many areas of the body, particularly the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, reproductive tract, oral cavity, and skin of most humans. In the stratum corneum of the skin, C. albicans exist as budding yeasts. Pathogenic C. albicans in the dermis and systemic organs exists predominantly as hyphae. Candida albicans is an opportunistic human fungal pathogen responsible for causing the infection commonly known as candidiasis. It causes multiple types of infections which can be mucosal or systematic. Mucosal infection caused by C. albicans that is commonly known is the vulvovaginal candidiasis, which up to 75% healthy adult women experience at least once in their lifetime. Systemic infection, a much more serious disease, happens to immunocompromised individuals, including HIV-infected patients, transplant recipients, chemotherapy patients, and low-birth-weight infants. It is where C. albicans invades tissues and enters the bloodstream which may infect organs.

There have been several studies that include Hibiscus rosa-sinensis as a plant that contains several constituents that can be a remedy for treating various diseases. As stated in the study of Seyyednejad et al. , (2010) that the Hibiscus plant as native plant can be a new source for antibiotics discovery and infection treatment that can be used in the advancement of medicine. It was also stated in the study of Boughalleb et al. , (2005) that the extracts of Hibiscus have shown a high amount of volatile components from the different part of the plant. However, essential oil from the leaves of Hibiscus which has been investigated had significant fungitoxic activity, probably due to its major constituents such as (Z) and (E)-phytol, n-nonanal, benzene acetaldehyde, 2-hexenal and 5-methylfurfural.

Boughalleb et al. , (2005) also demonstrated that compounds extracted from leaves, stem and flowers of H. rosa-sinensis have antifungal activity against F. oxysporum and R. solani but during the study of Tuba et al. , (2016) it was observed that leaves extract of H. rosa sinensis have no active compounds against these pathogens. Moreover, further microbiological and pharmacological studies are needed before starting clinical trials. Sanjesh et al. , (2012) also stated that the methanol extract of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis shows highest zone of inhibition with the concentration of 100 grams per milliliters against the certain fungal strains used in the study. It was also stated in the study of Maganha et al. , (2009) that the active constituents found in plants play an important role in preventing chronic and degenerative diseases.