A Review: Antifungal Potentials of Medicinal Plants

Medicinal plants have been widely used to treat a variety of infectious and non-infectious diseases. According to an estimate, 25% of the commonly used medicines contain compounds isolated from plants. Several plants could offer a rich reserve for drug discovery of infectious diseases, particularly in an era when the latest separation techniques are available on one hand, and the human population is challenged by a number of emerging infectious diseases on the other hand. Among several other ailments, fungal infections are posing a great threat to the mankind, as a large number of people suffer from fungal infections worldwide due to emerging resistance of fungal strains. The available antifungal drugs are either too costly or are accompanied with several side effects. Of importance, a variety of medicinal plants have shown promise to treat a number of fungal infections, and some of them possess broad-spectrum antifungal activity. This article describes potential antifungal properties of medicinal plants against fungi, and suggests screening the potential of plants possessing broad-spectrum antifungal effects against emerging fungal infections.