Tropical Medicinal Plant Extracts from Indonesia as Antifungal Agents against Candida Albicans

Abstract

Background: Candida albicans is responsible for a wide range of medical ailments, from harmless cutaneous to life-threatening bloodstream infections. Growing cases of antifungal-drug resistance strains of C. albicans become a rationale to explore and develop novel anti-candida agents. In this paper, we assessed the anti-candida activity of the methanolic extracts of various tropical medicinal plants from Myrtaceae, Poaceae, and Zingiberaceae, commonly used in Indonesia to treat fungal infections. Methods: Candida albicans strain ATCC 10231 was used as a subject to assess the anti-Candida activities of plant methanolic extracts through disc diffusion assay. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Fungicidal Concentration (MFC) were observed. Results: All plant extracts in this study showed antifungal activities against C. albicans. Among them, Cymbopogon citratus, Curcuma xanthorrhiza, Curcuma aeruginosa, and Zingiber officinale var. rubrum showed the lowest MIC and MFC value of 3.8 mg/mL. Conclusions: The growth inhibition of C. albicans on disc diffusion assay was demonstrated by Z. officinale var. rubrum and C. longa, which were comparable to antifungal nystatin. Further investigation of the chemical constituents of the extracts and the cytotoxicity test is needed to further develop plant-derived anti-candida agents.

Keywords

• health care
• tropical medicinal plants
• candida albicans
• methanolic extract
• minimum inhibitory concentration
• minimum fungicidal concentration