ANALYSIS OF THE ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF THE ESSENTIAL OIL AND ALCOHOLIC EXTRACT OF ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS LINN (ROSEMARY) LEAVES ON CANDIDA ALBICANS

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.1594962429105

• Palavras-chave: Candida albicans. Rosmarinus officinalis. Plant extract. Essential oil. Rosemary.

• Keywords: Candida albicans. Rosmarinus officinalis. Plant extract. Essential oil. Rosemary.

• Abstract:

  Candida is a yeast-like fungus that is commensal in the microbiota of humans, mainly on the skin and oral, urogenital and gastrointestinal mucous membranes. The main Candida species are C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. tropicallis, C. parapsilosis and C. krusei, with C. albicans strains being the most frequent cause of candidemia in hospital settings. Despite the great development of allopathic medicine, its use by the poor still faces many obstacles, and for this and other reasons, there is greater use of medicinal plants in developing countries. One example of a plant with popularly accepted medicinal effects is Rosmarinus officinalis Linn, better known as rosemary. Rosemary is a medicinal plant widely used in cooking, but its medicinal properties have been known since antiquity, with its main uses being as a healing, antidiabetic, expectorant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial agent. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antifungal potential of the alcoholic extract and essential oil of rosemary against the species C. albicans. Two samples (alcoholic extract and essential oil) were analyzed in direct contact with Candida albicans colonies using two methods: agar diffusion (disk diffusion) and agar perforation (well technique), in order to identify possible antifungal activity. After incubating the plates, a halo of fungal inhibition was observed in the agar perforation methods of the essential oil plates, but no halo formation was observed in the agar diffusion method of the same plates. With regard to the alcoholic extract, none of the methods used formed an inhibitory halo. Therefore, the antifungal activity of the essential oil was observed in comparison with the positive control with a fluconazole disk.