ABSTRACT
Fungal diseases are life-threatening to human health and cause an important burden around the world being associated with high numbers of morbidity and mortality. For the search of plant extracts or compounds with antifungal activity, a test scheme is established starting with one that has a great capacity, so as to perform a screening of all extracts and compounds in a short time. Among the 43 plants with ethnopharmacological uses related to antifungal activity evaluated, 22 were active against at least one type of fungus. The chapter provides information about the reported use of some Argentinian wild plant species acting as antifungals as well as its validation based on in vitro studies performed in our laboratory. In addition, a revision of Polygonum genus, which represents a valuable source of antifungal compounds, was also performed. One of the plant genera most used by Argentinian Traditional Medicine to treat fungal conditions is the genus Polygonum.
