Indonesia as tropical country is endemic to various infectious diseases, including that affecting the skin due to fungi infection. In nature, the eggshell, present as hard or soft shell, protects the embryo from microorganism infection. Turtle produces soft shells, which is very unique in that it does not contain albumin. In nature, the turtle eggshell has to cope with high humidity, so it is assumed that turtle soft shell has potent antifungal activity. This study investigated the potency of the eggshell extract from green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) as an antifungal against Candida albicans, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Microsporum gypseum and Aspergillus brasiliensis. Protein extraction was carried out with dialysis followed by lyophilization and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Antifungal activity assay was conducted by Dilution Plating method with nystatin as a standard drug. The possible mechanism of antifungal activity was assessed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Fungal growth was inhibited by 8% w/v or 8×104 ppm extract, equivalent to 0.53 ppm nystatin against Candida albicans, 0.55 ppm against Microsporum gypseum, 0.36 ppm against Trichophyton mentagrophytes and 0.35 ppm against Aspergillus brasiliensis. The SDS-PAGE showed that the turtle eggshell extract had 6 proteins with molecular weight 20; 45, 50, 66, 80 and 116 kDa. This study showed that 8% w/v green turtle eggshell extract has inhibitory activity against Candida albicans, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Microsporum gypseum and Aspergillus brasiliensis, as also proven by SEM results. Taken together, the present results showed that turtle eggshell extract has antifungal potency that could be developed as antifungal drug. © 2012 Academic Journals Inc.

Antifungal,Chelonia mydas,Dilution plating,Eggshell,Green sea turtle,Protein,Scanning electron microscopy

https://doi.org/10.3923/jpt.2012.369.377