Inhibitory effect of some phytochemicals in the growth of yeasts potentially causing opportunistic infections

Abstract

Opportunistic infections caused by yeasts have been characterized as emerging diseases all over the world and this has caused the search for new products capable of inhibiting the survival of their etiological agents. In this study the sensitivity of some yeast potentially causing infections to alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, citral and eugenol was evaluated. All phytochemicals showed inhibitory action on the assayed yeast strains: Candida. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. guilliermondii, C. stellatoidea, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis and Cryptococcus neoformans, presenting their MIC values in the range of 1 and 4%. The phytochemicals presented effectiveness to provide high fungicide effect in a short time. These data support the possible use of some phytochemicals as useful tools to control the occurrence of opportunistic infections caused by yeasts.