Investigating the Effect of Watery and Alcoholic Extract of Calendula Officinalis in Inhibiting the Growth of Fungal Agents Isolated from Patients with Oral Candidiasis in in Vitro Conditions

 Nowadays, a large number of antifungal drugs are produced in the world. But the main problem is the resistance to these drugs and for this reason, finding new drugs and substances that have an antifungal effect has always been of interest to researchers in different fields. This study aimed to determine the antifungal effects of extracts of Calendula officinalis on the growth of fungal agents isolated from patients with oral candidiasis in in vitro conditions.

 In this experimental study, watery and alcoholic extracts of Calendula officinalis were prepared by maceration method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of watery and alcoholic extract of Calendula officinalis was evaluated against Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis and Candida krusei according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute document M27-A3 (CLSI M27-A3) by microdilution protocol.

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 The MIC and MFC of the watery extract of Calendula officinalis for Candida albicans were 512 µg/mL and for Candida glabrata were 1024 µg/mL, while the MIC and MFC of the alcoholic extract for Candida krusei and Candida glabrata were 16 µg/mL. Also, no sensitivity was observed for Candida tropicalis and Candida parapsilosis to watery and alcoholic extracts. In addition, Candida krusei isolates were resistant to watery extract and Candida albicans isolates were resistant to alcoholic extract.

 The results showed that the alcoholic extract of Calendula officinalis in comparison with the watery extract has a more inhibitory effect on Candida glabrata isolates.