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J Med Microbiol 55 (2006), 1367-1373; DOI: 10.1099/jmm.0.46443-0
© 2006 Society for General Microbiology
ISSN 1473-5644

Antifungal activity of the essential oil of Thymus pulegioides on Candida, Aspergillus and dermatophyte species

Eugénia Pinto1, Cidália Pina-Vaz2,3, Lígia Salgueiro4, Maria José Gonçalves4, Sofia Costa-de-Oliveira2, Carlos Cavaleiro4, Ana Palmeira1, Acácio Rodrigues2,3 and José Martinez-de-Oliveira5

1 Department of Microbiology/CEQOFF, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, 4050-Porto, Portugal

2 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-Porto, Portugal

3 IPATIMUP – Institute of Pathology and Molecular Immunology, University of Porto, 4200-Porto, Portugal

4 Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy/CEF, University of Coimbra, 3000-Coimbra, Portugal

5 Department of Obstetrics/Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Beira-Interior, 6200-Covilhã, Portugal

Correspondence
Eugénia Pinto
epinto{at}ff.up.pt

Received 30 November 2005
Accepted 15 June 2006

The composition of the essential oil of Thymus pulegioides and its antifungal activity on Candida, Aspergillus and dermatophyte fungal strains were studied. 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 carvacrol and thymol. The MIC and minimal lethal concentration were used to evaluate the antifungal activity against Candida (seven clinical isolates and four ATCC type strains), Aspergillus [five clinical isolates, and two Colección Española de Cultivos Tipo (CECT) and two ATCC type strains] and five clinical dermatophyte strains. Antifungal activity was evaluated for the essential oil and for its main components. To clarify its mechanism of action on yeasts and filamentous fungi, flow-cytometric studies of cytoplasmic membrane integrity were performed, and the effect on the amount of ergosterol was investigated. Results showed that T. pulegioides essential oil exhibited a significant activity against clinically relevant fungi, mainly due to lesion formation in the cytoplasmic membrane and a considerable reduction of the ergosterol content. The present study indicates that T. pulegioides essential oil has considerable antifungal activity, deserving further investigation for clinical applications.

Abbreviations: MLC, minimal lethal concentration; PI, propidium iodide.




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