An investigation on the anticandidal activity of some traditional medicinal plants in Turkey

Methanol and chloroform extracts obtained from eight plant species belonging to six families, which were selected depending on their use in Turkish folk medicine, including Mentha longifolia L. (Labiatae), Mentha piperita L. Hudson (Labiatae), Prongos ferulaceae (Umbelliferae), Galium verum L. (Rubiaceae), Salvia limbata C. A Meyer (Labiatae), Artemisia austriaca Jacq. (Artemiceae), Plantago lanceolata L. (Plantaginaceae) and Urtica dioica L. (Urticaceae) were evaluated for their in vitro anticandidal activity. The anticandidal activity of extracts against 99 human pathogenic clinical isolates belonging to 35 Candida albicans, 33 Candida tropicalis and 31 Candida glabrata and standard strains of Candida spp. (C. albicans ATCC 10231, C. glabrata ATCC 80030 and C. tropicalis ATCC 22019) were tested by disc diffusion method and the active extracts were assayed for the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). Chloroform extracts of plants have no inhibitory effect against both clinical and standard strains of Candida spp., whereas methanol extracts exhibited good activity. Among the plants tested, M. piperita showed the highest anticandidal activity with 12.3 mm inhibition zone and 1.25 mg ml(-1) MIC value against C. albicans, M. longifolia, P. lanceolata and A. austriaca also displayed activity against C. albicans and C. tropicalis.