Chemical Identification of Purified Molecule (3-ethyl-6,7-dihydroxy-2-phenylchromen- 4-one) Prepared from Alpinia officinarum with Anti-Cryptococcus neoformans Potential

Background: Plants contain a large number of molecules with various potentials, including antifungal impact. Cryptococcus neoformans (C. neoformans) is a yeast that causes Cryptococcosis infection in both immunocompromised and normal individuals worldwide. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the inhibitory impact of plant extracts on C. neofor-mans and perform purification of the most bioactive product for further chemical identifica-tion. Methods: The anti-C. neoformans potential of fourteen plants extracted by using various sol-vents, including water, methanol, and benzene, was tested. The most promising compound with anti-C. neoformans was purified. The minimal inhibitory level of the purified sub-frac-tion as compared to fluconazole as a standard drug was determined. The chemical identifica-tion of the purified product was carried out using FTIR, 1HNMR, elemental analysis, and Mass spectroscopy. Results: Alpinia officinarum (A. officinarum) methanolic extract has the highest antifungal impact on C. neoformans and showed an inhibition zone of 3.2±0.2 cm. The methanolic ex-tract was separated into 14 fractions, where the fifth fraction showed the highest activity. It was further separated into four sub-fractions that were tested to characterize the most promis-ing molecule with anti-C. neoformans impact, which was further chemically identified as 3-Ethyl-6,7-dihydroxy-2-phenyl-chromen-4-one. The purified product led to significant altera-tions in the ultra-structure of C. neoformans relative to the standard drug.