Chemical Composition and Antifungal Activity of Essential Oils from Various Bulgarian Mentha x piperita L. Cultivars Against Clinical Isolates of Candida albicans

Abstract

The antifungal activities of peppermint essential oils obtained from standard cul-tivar, two newly selected Mentha x piperita L. and allopolyploid hybrid of Mentha x piperita L. x Mentha arvensis, growing in Bulgaria, were investigated against 15 clinical isolates of Candida albicans (5 oropharyngeal, 5 vaginal and 5 skin damaging strains) and C. albicans ATCC 10231. Furthermore, the Chemical composition of these peppermint oils was evaluated by GC and GC-MS. The strains isolated from oropharyngeal infections were more resistible to peppermint oils, while C. albicans ATCC 10231 was more susceptible. Antifungal activity of peppermint oils depended mainly on menthol content and strain specific susceptibility. The newly selected and introduced allopolyp-loid hybrid Mentha x piperita L. x Mentha arvensis, characterized with an increased content of menthol, resulted in especially low MIC (4,5μg/mL) and MFC (4,5 μg/mL) against C.albicans ATCC 10231.