MEDICINAL PLANT BIOACTIVE BETA-CAROTENE AS A LEAD ANTIFUNGAL AGENT AGAINST Rhizopus AND Mucor SPECIES

Mucormycosis, a severe fungal infection triggered by Mucorales species, has emerged as a significant threat to individuals with compromised immune systems. In this study, an in-silico screening approach was employed to identify potential antifungal phytochemicals from five medicinal plants, namely, Murraya koenigii, Curcuma longa, Cinnamomum camphora, Trachyspermum ammi, and Ferula jaeschkeana, against key target proteins associated with Rhizopus oryzae and Mucor circinelloides. A total of 97 ligands from five medicinal plants were docked against four selected target proteins (4BFO, 2V8M, 6VCT, 6VRX) using PyRx software. The molecular docking analysis revealed that beta-carotene from Murraya koenigii and seocalcitol from Cinnamomum camphora exhibited the highest binding affinities (-8.5 kcal/mol), indicating strong interactions with the fungal proteins. Further toxicity assessments using SWISS-ADME, Boiled EGG Model, pKCSM, CarcinoPred-EL, and PredSkin 3.0 suggested that beta-carotene and flavone were non-carcinogenic and had favorable pharmacokinetic properties. These findings highlight the potential of plant-derived bioactive compound Beta-carotene for further development aimed at affordable and safer antifungal therapy. Future in vitro, as well as in vivo analysis, is essential to validate the efficiency and safety of the compounds in mucormycosis therapy.