Sana Khalid

Investigation of Antifungal Activity of Puthkanda Achyranthes Aspera: a Wild Medicinal Herb of Pakistan Sana Khalid

Ethnobotany is a specialty in botany that studies the lore and uses of plants as illustrative of the customs of a (usually primitive) society. The aim of Ethnobotany is to study how and why people use and conceptualize plants in their local environments. The present study had been designed to evaluate potential antifungal compounds from ethnomedicinal plant namely Achyranthes aspera or PUTHKANDA known in PAKISTAN due to its relation with people. Puthkanda is an erect herb, 0.3-1meter high with stiff branches terete or absolutely quadrangular, striate, pubescent, leaves few, usually thick, elliptic-obovate, petiolate, acute and entire. It is an important medicinal plant so I have chosen it. The study was done on Achyranthes aspera seeds (in the dormancy phase) as well as all plant parts. In order to achieve this goal the aqueous and other organic solvents were evaluated for their antifungal activity against the target fungi i.e Aspergillus niger. Methanol inhibited 95% growth of Aspergillus niger.