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Antifungal activities and action mechanisms of compounds from Tribulus terrestris L.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2005 Sep 14, 2005.

       Antifungal activity of natural products is being studied widely. Saponins are known to be antifungal and antibacterial. The in vitro antifungal activities of the eight saponins against five yeasts, Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida parapsilosis, Candida tropicalis and Cryptococcus neoformans were studied. In vivo activity of tribulus terrestris in a Candida albicans vaginal infection model was studied in particular. The results showed that tribulus terrestris was very effective against several pathogenic candidal species and Cryptococcus neoformans in vitro. It is noteworthy that tribulus terrestris saponins were very active against Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans. Phase contrast microscopy showed that tribulus terrestris inhibited hyphal formation, an important virulence factor of Candida albicans, and transmission electron microscopy showed that tribulus terrestris destroyed the cell membrane of Candida albicans. In conclusion, tribulus terrestris has significant in vitro and in vivo antifungal activity, weakening the virulence of Candida albicans and killing fungi through destroying the cell membrane.

Antibacterial, antifungal, and antimicrobial activities of different parts of Tribulus terrestris L.
growing in Iraq

Firas A. Al-Bayati^† and Hassan F. Al-Mola , Department of Biology, College of Education, University of Mosul, Mosul-00964, Iraq, Received November 11, 2007; Accepted December 26, 2007.

Abstract

Antimicrobial activity of organic and aqueous extracts from fruits, leaves and roots of Tribulus terrestris L., an Iraqi medicinal plant used as urinary anti-infective in folk medicine, was examined against 11 species of pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms: Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Serratia marcescens, Salmonella typhimurium, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans using microdilution method in 96 multiwell microtiter plates. All the extracts from the different parts of the plant showed antimicrobial activity against most tested microorganisms. The most active extract against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria was ethanol extract from the fruits with a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 0.15 mg/ml against B. subtilis, B. cereus, P. vulgaris and C. diphtheriae. In addition, the same extract from the same plant part demonstrated the strongest antifungal activity against C. albicans with an MIC value of 0.15 mg/ml.

CONCLUSION

Since Iraqi T. terrestris demonstrated activity against the most prevalent Gram-negative bacteria in urinary infections, namely E. coli, the use of the plant as a urinary anti-infective is validated, scientifically supported by the results obtained in this work.