Antifungal properties of Foeniculum vulgare, Carum carvi and Eucalyptus sp. essential oils against Candida albicans strains

Abstract

Aromatic plants are among the most important sources of biologically active secondary metabolites, with high antimicrobal potential. This study was carried out to examine in vitro antifungal activity of Foeniculum vulgare (Apiaceae), Carum carvi (Apiaceae) and Eucalyptus sp.(Myrtaceae) essential oils against three Candida albicans strains of different origin (laboratory-CAL, human pulmonary-CAH and ATCC10231-CAR). The essential oils were screened on C. albicans using disc and well-diffusion and microdilution method, and compared to Nystatine and Fluconazole as standard anti-mycotics. The activity of tested oils was expressed by inhibition zone diameter (mm), minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) (mg/ml). The results indicated that studied essential oils show antifungal activity against all three isolates of C. albicans. It was observed that each oil exhibits different degree of antifungal activity depending on the oil concentration applied as well as on analyzed strain of C. albicans. Carum carvi demonstrated the strongest antifungal effect to all tested strains, showing the lowest MIC values (0.03mg/ml for CAL, 0.06mg/ml for CAH, and 0.11mg/ml for CAR, respectively). Eucalyptus sp. exhibited the lowest antifungal activity, with MIC values ranging from 0.11 mg/ml for CAL to 0.45 mg/ml for both CAH and CAR.