Investigation of in vitro antifungal activity of Salicornia iranica Akhani

Salicornia is one of the halophyte plants that grow in salt marshes and beaches. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the in vitro antifungal activity of Salicornia iranica, an endemic species of Iran, in two fungal species, including Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans. For this purpose, S. iranica 70% of ethanolic extract was prepared and mixed in plates with agar medium containing A. niger and C. albicans separately and allowed to gelatinize. Fungal samples were placed on each plate by the sampler. After absorption of microbial suspension into the agar plates, all of them were incubated at 25 °C for 72 hours. The results showed that S. iranica has no inhibitory effect on tested fungi. Since the antimicrobial activity of Salicornia have been attributed to fatty acid methyl esters, negative antifungal activity may be due to the lack of this compound in ethanolic extract, degradation of them through extraction, or the resistance of tested fungal species to the related compounds.