Evaluation of the antifungal activity of total flavonoids extract from Patrinia Villosa Juss and optimization by response surface methodology

The purpose of this work was to assess the antifungal activity of total flavonoids extract from Patrinia Villosa Juss. Response surface methodology was employed to optimize the main extraction conditions including extraction time, ethanol concentration and solid-liquid ratio. The effect of total flavonoids extract from P. villosa on Microsporum gypseum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Trichophyton rubrun were studied. We found that under the conditions of extraction time 25.51 min, solvent concentration 62.82% and solid-liquid ratio to be 27.39:1, it possesses considerable amounts of flavonoids of 8.1987 mg/g rutin equivalent of extract. The effects of antifungal activity of P. villosa on Trichophyton were more sensitive than Microsporum, but less effective than the positive control ketoconazole. In conclusion, total flavonoids extract from P. villosa possess potent anti-dermatophyte activities. These activities could contribute, at least in part, to the traditionally claimed therapeutic benefits of P. villosa.