Antioxidant and Antifungal Activity of Aqueous and Organic Extracts of Liquorice

Aqueous and organic extracts of liquorice were investigated for antioxidant and antifungal activities against four pathogens, A. alternata, A. niger, F. solani, F. oxysporum by agar dilution method. The antioxidant effect of aqueous and organic extracts was evaluated by using DPPH method. All the extracts exhibited significant inhibition in DPPH free radical formation which is comparable to BHT used as standard. The percentage DPPH radical scavenging was 66 ± 1.21,55 ± 1.09, 52 ± 0.98 and 57 ± 1.02 for BHT, aqueous, methanolic and ethanolic extracts respectively. MIC and MFC was evaluated by serial dilution method, the strongest antifungal activity was observed using the ethanolic extract against F. oxysporum (zone of inhibition: 33.37±0.38 mm; MIC: 0.078 mg/mL) while all the extracts had equal antifungal activity against A. alternata and F. solani. A. niger was more sensitive to methanolic extract (zone of inhibition: 29.27±0.14; MIC: 0.039 mg/mL) than the aqueous and ethanolic extract.