FERANDES, V. D. G.; FERANDES, Viton Dyrk Guimarães
Abstract:
Candidiasis is the most common fungal infection of the oral cavity, and its etiological factor is
the proliferation and growth of microorganisms of the genus Candida. Candida fungi make up
the diverse microbiota of the oral cavity, living in a harmless commensal relationship with the
host and being able to colonize different habitats such as mucosa and skin. Several antifungal
drugs have been used for the treatment of candidiasis, such as azole antifungals (ketoconazole,
fluconazole) and polyene antifungals (nystatin, amphotericin B). Therefore, the use of
medicinal plants presents itself as a viable and promising alternative for the discovery of new
phytopharmaceutical agents with great biological potential. Based on literature studies that
show the physical-chemical and ethnopharmacological characteristics of medicinal plant
species, this research aimed to evaluate the antifungal activity of the methanolic extract of
Psidium guineense (Myrtaceae). The study was performed through in vitro assays where the
methanolic extract of Psidium guineense was used as test substance against the fungal species
Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis and Candida krusei previously identified and maintained
in culture media of Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) and Sabouraud dextrose broth (SSD). In
addition, nystatin was used as the standard antifungal for the positive control. The microdilution
broth technique was used to determine the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of
Psidium guineense methanolic extract. Thus, it was obtained as a result the MIC value higher
than 1024 μg/mL, indicating that the methanolic extract of Psidium guineense had no antifungal
activity by the methodology used against the strains tested.
