Antifungal Activity of the Native Essential Oil of Zataria Multiflora on Candida Albicans, Aspergillus Niger and Aspergillus Flavus from Iran.
N. Rahimifard1-2*, SH. Shoeibi1,2, SR. Pakzad1,2, O. Sabzevari³, S. Ajdary4, S. Haghighi5, F. Bagheri5 and M. Sabzikaran5¹Food and Drug Laboratory Research center (FDLRC), Tehran (Iran).
²Food and Drug Control Laboratories (FDCLs), Ministry of Health (MOH), Tehran (Iran).
3Pharmacy faculty, Tehran University of Medical Sciences(TUMS), Tehran (Iran).
4Immunology Department, Pasteur Institute, Tehran (Iran).
5Microbiology Department, Pharmaceutical sciences branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran (Iran).
Corresponding Author E-mail:, rahimifn@yahoo.com
Abstract: The composition of the native essential oil of Zataria multiflora and its antifungal activity on Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus fungal strains were studied in Iran. Essential oil from the aerial parts of the plant was obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed by GC and GC-MS. The oil showed high contents of p-Cymene, carvacrol and thymol. The MIC was used to evaluate the antifungal activity against Candida albicans ATCC 10231, Aspergillus niger ATCC 9642 and Aspergillus flavus ATCC 9643. Antifungal activity was evaluated for the essential oil and simultaneously for Amphotricin B. Results showed that Zataria multiflora essential oil exhibited a significant activity against fungi, and its MIC on Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus were respectively 0.125, 0.125 and 0.125 µg ml-1 (ppm).The present study indicates that Zataria multiflora essential oil has considerable antifungal activity, deserving further investigation for clinical applications.
Keywords: Zataria multiflora; MIC(minimal inhibitory concentration); Antifungal Back to TOC