Research Article Indian J. Anim. Hlth. (2020), 59(1) : 45-49 DOI: 10.36062/ijah.59.1.2020.45-49 STUDIES ON SOME PHYTOEXTRACTS FOR THEIR ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITIES AGAINST MICROSPORUM CANIS A. D. SINGH 1 , C. DEBNATH *1 , S. CHAUDHURI 2 , R. BISWAS 1 , R. BARUA 1 , I. SAMANTA 1 AND G. P. MANDAL 3 1 Department of Veterinary Public Health, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, 37, K. B. Sarani, Kolkata-700 037, West Bengal, India 2 Department of Veterinary Clinical Complex, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, 37, K. B. Sarani, Kolkata-700 037, West Bengal, India 3 Department of Animal Nutrition, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, 37, K. B. Sarani, Kolkata-700 037, West Bengal, India Dermatophytes are responsible for a majority of superficial fungal infections. They are distinctive from other pathogenic fungi in their ability to use keratin as living. They can sustain in different ecosystems that added in their morphological and ecological range with high flexibility to changing environmental conditions. Lately, Microsporum canis has evolved as a resistant pathogen against several antifungals and has been in the focus of interest for causing outbreaks and epidemics in humans from domestic animals. The increasing evolution of resistance, therapeutic failures, and reduced number of available drugs stimulated to investigate therapeutic alternatives by using some commonly available plants empirically used for their antifungal properties. Likewise, the present study reports the in vitro antifungal efficacy of crude as well as fractionalized extracts with different solvents of Ficus racemosa leaves (L.), Cassia fistula L. and Nerium oleander L. Antifungal activity was evaluated according to Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) protocol by determination of Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC’s) values on a clinical isolate of M. canis that showed resistance to some commonly used antifungals. All crude phyto-extracts except Nerium oleander L. effectively inhibited the growth of M. canis. The methanolic extract of Ficus racemosa L. and Cassia fistula L. completely inhibited the fungal growth at a concentration of 2 µg/mL and 8 µg/mL respectively. These two phyto-extracts proved to have significant antifungal activity against common antifungal resistant M. canis isolate. Further studies with the identified plant parts through in vivo studies and pin-point isolation of the active compound may prove beneficial as an effective alternative therapy for the pathogen. Key words: Antifungal resistance, Ficus racemosa, Microsporum canis, Phytoextracts * Corresponding Author Dermatophytes are specialized pathogenic fungi having the ability to invade keratinized structures viz. cornified skin layers, hair, and nails causing a superficial cutaneous infection called dermatophytoses/ringworm (de Hoog et al., 2017). They are distinctive from other pathogenic filamentous fungi in their ability to use keratin as their living. They can sustain in different ecosystems that added in their morphological and ecological range as well as high flexibility to changed environmental conditions (Singh et al., 2020). As per the new taxonomic tree, they are classified into nine clades based on multi-locus genetic analysis: Trichophyton, Microsporum, Epidermophyton , Arthroderma , Nannizzia , Lopophyton , Paraphyton, Ctenomyces and