Punicalagin, extracted from the fruit peel of Punica granatum, displays strong antifungal activity against Candida species, especially when combined with fluconazole.
The study made use of an activity-guided repeated fractionation process on a silica-gel column to isolate a compound from a crude hydro alcoholic extract of Punica granatum fruit peel. Upon analysis, this compound was identified as punicalagin. Its antifungal activity against Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis was tested, alongside its combined effectiveness with fluconazole. Further tests were conducted using disk-diffusion, checkerboard assays, and time-kill curves to confirm the compound's synergy with fluconazole.
Punicalagin exhibited considerable antifungal activity against Candida organisms, including Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis. When combined with fluconazole, punicalagin resulted in a two-fold decrease in the MIC for fluconazole, indicating a synergistic interaction. Further visual investigations, through scanning and transmission electron microscopy, showed that treated yeast cells exhibited an irregular budding pattern, pseudohyphae, and changes in cell morphology including a thicker cell wall, alterations in the distance between the cell wall and the plasma membrane, and the presence of vacuoles.
