Exposure time of virgin coconut oil against oral Candida albicans

Abstract

Introduction: Virgin coconut oil (VCO) is an oil which is purely made as a product of the coconut palm and has been used for centuries in the culinary industry and the medical field. Currently, VCO is used widely in medical field due to its effectiveness as antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties. Objective of this experimental study was to prove the effectiveness of virgin coconut oil by determining its exposure time at concentration of 25% to inhibit growth of oral Candida albicans. Method: The research was done by quasi experiment design using the serial dilution method. The exposure time test was performed using a spread plate technique with virgin coconut oil at concentration of 25 % against oral Candida albicans isolated from saliva. Intervals of day 0, 1, 2, and 3 were used. Result: The result showed that virgin coconut oil inhibited the growth of oral C. albicans cells at day 2. Conclusion: Virgin coconut oil with concentration of 25% was able to inhibit with 2 days time exposure, which is similar with other synthetic antifungals.

Antifungal effectiveness of virgin coconut oil mousse against Candida albicans biofilm in children with early childhood caries

“…One of the purest forms of coconut oil is VCO. Several reports suggested that VCO has antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral and antioxidant properties [17]. VCO has antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans, Actinomyces spp., Prevotella spp.…”

“…The duration of extract exposure to C. albicans was 24 h [10]. VCO has many medical effects due to the high percentage of medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) [10,17]. Several fatty acids have the highest antifungal activities, such as lauric acid, capric acid, monoglyceride monolaurin and monocaprin [8,10,17,20].…”

“…VCO has many medical effects due to the high percentage of medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) [10,17]. Several fatty acids have the highest antifungal activities, such as lauric acid, capric acid, monoglyceride monolaurin and monocaprin [8,10,17,20]. The mechanism action of lauric acid against Candida is initiated by entering the lipid bilayer of fungal membranes and physically disturbing the fungal cell membrane, resulting in cell membrane disorganization due to increased fluidity of the membrane.…”

“…This will lead to cell membrane destruction of C. albicans then intracellular components leakage, cytoplasmic disorder and protoplasmic lysis. As a result, C. albicans colony growth is inhibited [10,17].…”

“…Capric acid has been reported to be the fastest and most effective fatty acid eliminating C. albicans. This fatty acid inhibits C. albicans filamentation, and reduces biofilm formation and candidal adhesion, resulting in reducing candidal pathogenicity [17].…”