FUW Trends in Science & Technology Journal, www.ftstjournal.com e-ISSN: 24085162; p-ISSN: 20485170; August, 2020: Vol. 5 No. 2 pp. 520 – 524 520 ANTIFUNGAL AND PHYTOCHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS OF AQUEOUS LEAVES EXTRACT OF Hyptis spicigera LAM. ON Aspergillus AND Fusarium SPECIES K. Adamu*, F. U. Adamu, R. Ibrahim, S. A. Rabilu, A. Abdu and I. B. Danazumi Department of Botany, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria *Corresponding author: kabiruadamu1992@gmail.com Received: February 18, 2020 Accepted: June 15, 2020 Abstract: The use of most synthetic fungicides have been restricted because of high acute toxicity, long degradation period, pathogen resistance, bad effect on human, plants, animals and the environment at large. Due to high usage of chemical fungicides on farm land near water bodies, there is an increase release of toxin in water bodies which will invariable entered into the food chain. The aim of the research was to determine the phytochemical and antifungal activities of the aqueous leaf extract of Hyptis spicigera on Aspergillus and Fusarium species. The phytochemical screening was done using standard methods. The antifungal activities were carried out to determine the zones of inhibitions, minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum fungicidal concentrations using standard methods of Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institutes. The qualitative phytochemical constituents reveal the presence of anthraquinones, unsaturated sterols and triterpenes, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, tannins, saponins and alkaloids. The quantitative phytochemical screening revealed high concentration of saponin to be 490 mg/g, phenolic was 280 mg/g, flavonoids was 220 mg/g, alkaloids was 120 mg/g and tannins had the least concentration of 50 mg/g. The sensitivity of the extract on the test organism revealed highest diameter of inhibition on Aspergillus parasiticus with mean diameter of inhibition zone of 21.33±0.33 mm and the least inhibition zone of the extract was observed on Aspergillus niger with mean diameter of inhibition zone of 16.00±0.58 mm. The MIC of the fungi sensitive to the extract ranges between 3.13 to 12.5 mg/ml of the extract and their MFC ranges between 6.25 to 25 mg/ml of the extract. The result of the analyses of the diameter of inhibition revealed that there was a significant difference between the extract and the control fungicides (Mancozeb). The result obtained from this research revealed that the leaves extract could be used as bio-fungicidal product for the control of fungal diseases of some species of Aspergillus and Fusarium. Keywords: Phytochemicals, antifungal Hyptis spicigera, methanol, flavonoid fraction, Aspergillus, Fusarium Introduction Biologically active compounds present in the medicinal plants have always been of great interest to scientists working in this field. The use of most synthetic fungicides have been restricted because of high acute toxicity, long degradation period, pathogen resistance, bad effect on human, plants, animals and the environment at large (Wuyep et al., 2017). Due to high usage of chemical fungicides on farm land near water bodies, there is an increase release of toxin in water bodies which will invariable entered into the food chain. Plant diseases are mostly controlled by chemical pesticides, bactericide, fungicide and in some cases by cultural practices. No doubt the use of chemicals has been found to be effective in controlling these diseases, but some major problems threaten to limit the continued use of these chemical fungicides. One problem is the tendency of fungi to develop resistance to chemicals, necessitating a higher dose or the development of new chemicals to replace those to which fungi are resistant which will virtually cause increased released of toxic substances into the environment (Shukla et al., 2010; Bhagwat and Datar, 2014). Fungal contamination of agricultural production is a chronic problem in developing countries and results in a decline in quality of agricultural crops. According to an investigation, nearly 20% decrease in the yield of major food and crops are due to fungal (Agrios, 2005). Crops are naturally contaminated with fungi in the field, during drying, processing, transportation and subsequent storage and it may be difficult to completely prevent mycotoxins formation in contaminated commodities, particularly those that are produced in tropical and subtropical climates, in countries where high temperature and humidity promote the growth and proliferation of fungi (Kumar et al., 2008). Thus, they are often colonized by fungi, including species from the genus Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium, which cause significant reductions in crop yield, quality and safety due to their ability to produce mycotoxins (Alkenz et al., 2015). Aspergillus mold fungus is a large genus consisted of over 200 species to which humans are constantly exposed. Only few of these species are pathogenic among which more than 95% of the infections are caused by three species of Aspergillus including A. fumigatus, A. flavus, A. niger (Anaissie et al., 2009) Fusarium diseases that affect most crops are caused by several individual Fusarium or more commonly, co-occurring species. Fusarium spp. can cause indirect losses resulting from seedling blight or reduced seed germination, or direct losses such as seedling foot and stalk rots; however, the most important diseases in cereals due to severe reduction in yield and quality are head blight of small cereals such as wheat, barley, oat and ear rot of maize (Nganje et al., 2000; Munkvold, 2003). Materials and Methods Study area The study was carried out in the Department of Pharmacognosy and Drugs Development, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria Located in Kaduna State between Latitude 11 o 09 o N and Longitude 7 o 39 o E at an altitude of 672 meters above sea level and Department of Botany, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria located between Latitude 11 o 15 o N and Longitude 7 o 65 o E and an altitude of 652 meters above sea level using Global Positioning System (GPS) Android Version 9.10.11 Source of plant materials Fresh leaves samples of Hyptis spicigera Lam. was collected within Zaria Environs located between Latitude 11 o 55 o N and Longitude 7 o 99 o E, the leaves were taken to the herbarium unit of Department of Botany, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria for proper identification and documentation and the Voucher number of the plant was documented as ABU2050 Preparation of plant materials The fresh leaves were dried at room temperature (25 – 30 0 C) for 21 days, the dried leaves were grinded into fine powder Supported by