| Abstract | Crude extracts of 24 kinds of herbs and spices were screened in vitro for their antimycotic activities against nine mould and two yeast strains commonly found on Ras cheese surface. The primary screening using aqueous and acetonic extracts showed high antifungal activity of caraway, cinnamon, cumin, fenugreek, galangal, marjoram and miswak extracts. Ethanolic extract of these plants in addition to ambrosia and rosemary were further investigated for its antimycotic activities. The results showed a dose-dependent effect and high correlations (0.8-1.0) between the antifungal effects of these extracts and its concentration in the culture media. The examined extracts (0.3%) resulted in 88-100% of the antifungal activity of control (50 ppm delvocid). A prominent and maximum effect of cinnamon at concentration of (0.2%) was obtained. Among the examined fungi strains; Aspergillus spp., Penicillium spp. and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were more sensitive to the tested extracts. These findings strengthen the possibility of using some ethanolic extracts of the tested plants as an alternative to chemicals to prevent the fungal growth on Ras cheese surface. However further studies on Ras cheese treatment remain necessary. |