Research Projects

Mucormycosis is a life-threatening infection caused by fungi of the order Mucorales generally called as ‘Black Fungus’. Mucormycosis is an opportunistic fungal infection with a high fatality rate and is the third most common fungal infection that is invasive, next to candidiasis and aspergillosis. Mucormycosis was first described by ‘Paultauf’ in 1885. Many individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 have recently been diagnosed with mucormycosis disease. Usually, Amphotericin-B is used to treat the mucormycosis patient. It is expensive and also causes other health complications, which include severe damage to the involved organs. The Western Ghats is known for its rich biodiversity, in a variety of flora and fauna. The richness of the Western Ghats is further increased by the exclusive varieties of medicinal plants. The proposed research work focus to study the potentiality of selected medicinal plants situated in the Western Ghats to control the fungi causing mucormycosis and also to investigate the phytochemicals and bioactive molecules present in the effective medicinal plants. Medicinal plants sample will be collected from the Western Ghats region, plant compounds will be extracted by crude extract and soxhlet extraction method using different polarity solvents. The antifungal potential of plant extracts will be determined by the agar well diffusion method and the MIC of extracts will also be evaluated. Effective plant phytochemicals will be determined by qualitative analysis and confirmed by high version analytical techniques such as GC/MS or LC/MS/ NMR spectroscopy etc. The mode of action of isolated antifungal compounds will be studied. The proposed research work will come out as a boon for the people suffering from mucormycosis after Covid-19 and for those who are at risk of it.