Plants used in folk medicine: The potential of their hydromethanolic extracts against Candida species

Abstract

Currently, opportunistic fungal infections are considered a serious problem regarding public health. Despite the advances towards the synthesis of new antifungal agents, an increasing incidence of drug-resistant microorganisms has been observed. In this sense, other alternatives are necessary. In the present work, the antifungal activity of extracts from ten different plants, commonly used in folk medicine, were evaluated against nineteen Candida strains, including C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis species. Although the majority of the extracts had no antimicrobial effect, Juglans regia extract was very effective, exerting an inhibitory effect against all the tested Candida strains, while Eucalyptus globulus was effective against seventeen of them. Pterospartum tridentatum and Rubus ulmifolius presented similar antifungal effects, being effective against six Candida strains. The diameter of halo ranged, respectively, between 9-14 mm and 9-21 mm to the mentioned plant extracts, and the MIC 50 values evidenced mainly a fungistatic activity. Both extracts showed similar MIC 50 values for C. albicans strains, while C. parapsilosis and C. glabrata were more sensible to E. globulus. Otherwise, all the C. tropicalis strains were more sensible to J. regia. Overall, hydromethanolic plant extracts could constitute promissory alternatives to the traditional antifungal agents.

Plant phenolic extracts as an effective strategy to control Staphylococcus aureus , the dairy industry pathogen

“…However, up to the tested concentration (20 mg/mL), no positive results were achieved by the authors. Further, in the present study the selected plant species were already reported by Martins et al (2015b) as having a promisor antifungal activity against Candida species. In that experiment, the authors emphasized the doubtless importance of extraction solvents used; in fact, the content in bioactive molecules, such as phenolic compounds is markedly affected by the type of extraction solvent used, since it affects phytochemicals solubility and consequent bioactivity (Martins et al, 2015a(Martins et al, , 2015b.…”

In vitro anti-Candida activity of Glycyrrhiza glabra L.

“…In particular, phenolic extracts have evidenced significant antimicrobial properties against a multitude of opportunistic invaders, including Candida species (Barros et al, 2013;Gallucci et al, 2014;Martins et al, 2015bMartins et al, , 2015c. Glycyrrhiza glabra L. (licorice) is commonly recommended as antitussive, mucolytic, expectorant, antiulcer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, cytostatic, immunostimulant, and hepatoprotective, as well as flavor enhancer, due to its sweetening properties (Vanaclocha and Cañigueral, 2003).…”

INVESTIGAÇÃO DA ATIVIDADE ANTIFÚNGICA DE Mangifera indica L. FRENTE A DIFERENTES ESPÉCIES DE Candida ssp. ASSOCIADAS À CANDIDÍASE VULVOVAGINAL

“…Sabe-se que um dos principais fatores que dificultam o tratamento de infecções fúngicas é a resistência desenvolvida pelos microrganismos frente aos agentes antifún-gicos sintéticos disponíveis (MARTINS et al, 2015). Em virtude do potencial terapêutico de produtos naturais, desvendado dia-a-dia, em especial a atividade antimicrobiana, a potencialidade efetiva de descobertas de novos compostos eficazes na prevenção e tratamento de doenças infecciosas tem aumento substancialmente.…”