Antifungal potential of different parts of Olea europaea and Olea cuspidata growing in Azad Jammu and Kashmir

Development of more effective and less toxic antifungal agents is required for the treatment of fungal diseases of plants and human being. The medicinal plants and their various extracts have been used as medicines against infectious diseases and found as potent against crops as well as human pathogenic fungal stains. In this study, the antifungal activity of O. europaea (cultivated olive) leaves, seeds and O. cuspidata (wild olive) leaves, roots bark, stem bark and seeds were evaluated against a range of human and crop pathogenic fungal species by using well diffusion assay. The extracts of investigated parts of O. europaea and O. cuspidata obtained with organic solvents were found to be effective against some of tested fungal strains particularly extracts of O. cuspidata parts proved to be more potent. The ethylacetate extracts of O. cuspidata leaves and seeds were found to be effective against fungal pathogens as compared to O. europaea extracts. Nystatin was also used as positive control and respective solvent as negative control. This study demonstrated that the use of wild olive leaves extracts as medicines may reduce the risk of fungal infections, particularly in situations where lengthy usage of synthetic fungicidal inspire growth of opportunistic contagions. Keyword: Fungicidal; Wild Olive; Cultivated Olive; Organic Solvents; HPLC