Abstract

Pharmacological and biological investigations have justified the traditional application ofSatureja hortensis as a natural source of compounds for food conservation, as well as in the treatment of ailments including inflammatory diseases, cramps, muscle pains, nausea, indigestion, diarrhea, and infectious diseases. Regarding to the low number of reports ofSatureja hortensis antifungal activities, we focused on the inhibitory and fungicidal effects of the Satureja alcoholic extract on Candida and Aspergillus species. The subjects included patients with clinical isolates of Candida and Aspergillus obtained from UMSU University Hospital, Urmia, Iran. A total of 51 clinical isolates, including 31(60.8%) Candida albicansand 20(39.2%) Aspergillus species, respectively, were obtained. McFarland 0.5 solutions of the fungal isolates were treated with alcoholic (ethanol) extract of S. hortensis using 1- tube serial dilutions (MIC) and 2- agar serial dilutions (MFC). The Inhibitory range for Candidaisolates was shown to be 1/20 to 1/320. Findings of MIC and MFC on Aspergillus isolates showed that the lowest effective concentration was detected at the dilution point of 1/80 (MIC=12.5 mg/ml). Also, we got the result of 24 hours as the best incubation time of treatment for all the Aspergillus isolates tested. Our findings showed that the alcoholic extract of S. hortensis is able to inhibit growth of some Candida and Aspergillus clinical isolates in vitro and also killed them in higher concentrations.

Key words: Antifungal, Satureja hortensis, Aspergillus, Candida.