Evaluating the In Vitro Antagonism of Secondary Metabolites Fractionated from the Brown Algae, Sargassum swartzii against Human Candida spp.

Objective: To inspect the anticandidal potency of brown algae S. swartzii and GC-MS analysis to delineate its bioactive principles. Methods: The marine brown algae S. swartzii, was extracted and fractionated in organic solvents and quantitatively analyzed for its in vitro anticandidal potency against a battery of five clinically relevant species of Candida. Results: The fractionation of the crude algal extract yielded a bioactive algal fraction that exhibited broadest spectra of activity. It impeded the growth of all the evaluated Yeast pathogens in variable degrees. The maximal activity was recorded against the Candida albicans. The GC-MS studies of active algal fraction evinced the presence of three chemical constituents. Thence, the potent broad spectra of activity against the human Candida could be due the presence of major principle 1,2-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, diisooctyl ester, or could be pertained to the synergistic activity all the components. Conclusion: The overall results of this study implicates that the bioactive principles found in this algal fraction could be utilized as a lead molecule to develop natural antifungal drug to combat pathogenic Candida species.