Antifungal and Antibiofilm Activity of Colombian Essential Oils against Different Candida Strains

Abstract

Most Candida species are opportunistic pathogens with the ability to form biofilms, which increases their resistance to antifungal drug therapies and the host immune response. Essential oils (EOs) are an alternative for developing new antimicrobial drugs, due to their broad effect on cellular viability, cell communication, and metabolism. In this work, we evaluated the antifungal and antibiofilm potential of fifty EOs on C. albicans ATCC 10231, C. parapsilosis ATCC 22019, and Candida auris CDC B11903. The EOs’ antifungal activity was measured by means of a broth microdilution technique to determine the minimum inhibitory and fungicidal concentrations (MICs/MFCs) against the different Candida spp. strains. The effects on biofilm formation were determined by a crystal violet assay using 96-well round-bottom microplates incubated for 48 h at 35 °C. The EOs from Lippia alba (Verbenaceae family) carvone-limonene chemotype and L. origanoides exhibited the highest antifungal activity against C. auris. The L. origanoides EOs also presented antifungal and antibiofilm activity against all three Candida spp., thus representing a promising alternative for developing new antifungal products focused on yeast infections, especially those related to biofilm formation, virulence factors, and antimicrobial resistance.

Medicinal and Aromatic (Odoriferous) Properties of Pineapple (Minthostachys Mollis)

“…These essential oils, rich in compounds such as carvacrol and thymol, show effectiveness against the growth of Candida, both in its planktonic and sessile forms. A reduction in hyphae production was also observed, suggesting its therapeutic potential in the treatment against Candida spp (Ruiz-Duran et al, 2023).…”

Essential Oils against Candida auris—A Promising Approach for Antifungal Activity

“…Researchers have carried out extensive investigation into the antifungal properties of EOs obtained from a range of plant-based sources. [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ]. These EOs encompass a wide array of bioactive compounds and exhibit potent antimicrobial activity against C. auris .…”

Untargeted Metabolomics for Unraveling the Metabolic Changes in Planktonic and Sessile Cells of Salmonella Enteritidis ATCC 13076 after Treatment with Lippia origanoides Essential Oil

“…A total of 81 compounds were identified and quantified (>0.1%) in the EOs, and their relative abundances were grouped by chemical class as sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (43%, SH), followed by monoterpene hydrocarbons (17%, MH), oxygenated monoterpenes (16%, OM), oxygenated sesquiterpenes (16%, OS), and oxygenated compounds (8%, OC) (Table S1) [18].…”

“…The EOs used in this study were previously reported by [18]. The EOs used were characterized and supplied by the National Center for Research on Agro-Industrialization of Tropical Medicinal Aromatic Plants (CENIVAM), at the Universidad Industrial de Santander (Bucaramanga, Colombia).…”