ABSTRACT:
The aim of the study was to investigate the biofilm inhibition efficiency of endophytic fungi isolated from Acacia nilotica Linn. which is a traditional plant used for oral ailments. About 10 oral pathogenic strains of Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans were collected from patients with dental caries and tested for their biofilm forming ability by crystal violet assay. Endophytic fungi were isolated from the leaves of Acacia nilotica and secondary metabolites were extracted using ethyl acetate as the solvent. The crude extracts of endophytic fungi at different concentrations (0, 10, 25, 50 and 100 µg) were then subjected to biofilm inhibition studies against the biofilm forming oral strains of Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans with chlorhexidine as the positive control. The percentage of biofilm inhibiton efficiency of endophytic fungal extracts were calculated from the optical density values at 570 nm. The isolates of Streptococcus mutans (SM08) and Candida albicans (CA09) showed stronger biofilm formation and was further used for biofilm inhibition studies. The endophytic fungi Eupenicillium sp. and Aspergillus nidulans were isolated in dominant numbers and at 100 µg concentration of extracts, the percentage of Candida albicans biofilm inhibition efficiency of extracts of Eupenicillium sp. and Aspergillus nidulans were 79.53% and 74.86% respectively. Similarly, at 100 µg concentration of Eupenicillium sp. and Aspergillus nidulans extract, there was 55.94% and 51.49% of biofilm inhibition of Streptococcus mutans.The present study proved the potential of endophytic fungi isolated from Acacia nioltica for their biofilm inhibition of oral pathogens and the compounds in the endophytic fungal extracts would further serve as the leads of drugs for oral ailments.