Abstract
To evaluate the antifungal activity of five commercial extracts against Candida albicans in vitro, five commercial extracts obtained from Allium sativum, Chamaemelum nobile, Thymus vulgaris, Zingiber officinale and Ricinus communis were tested at three different concentrations (pure, 1/2 and 1/4) for their antimicrobial activity against C. albicans using agar disc diffusion method. C. albicans was least susceptible to the commercial extracts. The diameter of zone inhibition ranged between 6 and 13 mm. Z. officinale and T. vulgaris extracts appeared to be the most active, while A. sativum, C. nobile and R. communis extracts exhibited most weak antifungal activity against C. albicans. These findings increase the possibility of exploiting these commercial extracts as a safe alternative natural preservative.
Highlights
C. albicans is a harmless commensal dimorphic yeast-like fungus in healthy humans, which can cause superficial as well as life threatening systemic infections like oral candidiasis, vulvovaginal candidiasis and so on in humans [1, 2]
Z. officinale extract had the largest inhibition zone (13 mm) on C. albicans followed by T. vulgaris extract (12.5 mm)
A. sativum, C. nobile and R. communis extracts were inactive against this yeast with smallest inhibition zone (6 mm)
Summary
C. albicans is a harmless commensal dimorphic yeast-like fungus in healthy humans, which can cause superficial as well as life threatening systemic infections like oral candidiasis, vulvovaginal candidiasis and so on in humans [1, 2]. The emergence of antibiotic resistant C. albicans along with the essential role of C. albicans in high incidence of infections make it a pressing mission to discover and identify new hits and leads from synthesized chemicals or natural products. Plants are rich source of bioactive secondary metabolites of wide variety such as tannins, terpenoids, saponins, alkaloids, flavonoids, and other compounds, reported to have in vitro antifungal properties [12, 13]. In this context, our aim was to evaluate the possible therapeutic potential of some commercial extracts against this human dimorphic commensal organism, which can become a facultative pathogen under altered physiological situations
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