JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL FOOD

J Med Food 15 (3) 2012, 322–324

SHORT COMMUNICATION
# Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., and Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
DOI: 10.1089/jmf.2011.0128

Anti-Candida activity of Mentha arvensis and Turnera ulmifolia

Karla K.A. Santos,1 Edinardo F.F. Matias,1 Celestina E.S. Souza,1 Saulo R. Tintino,1
Maria F.B.M. Braga,1 Glaucia M.M. Guedes,1 Lavouisier F.B. Nogueira,1
Edson C. Morais,1 José G.M. Costa,2 Irwin R.A. Menezes,3 and Henrique D.M. Coutinho1
Laboratories of 1Microbiology and Molecular Biology, 2Research in Natural Products, and 3Pharmacology
and Medicinal Chemistry, Regional University of Cariri, Crato, Ceará, Brazil.

ABSTRACT Candidiasis is the most frequent infection by opportunistic fungi, frequently caused by Candida albicans,
Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis, Candida glabrata, and Candida krusei. Mentha arvensis L. is a herbaceous plant
that occurs throughout South America and is used as a tea and in the folk medicine. Turnera ulmifolia L. is already known to
be of medicinal value. Ethanol extracts from M. arvensis and T. ulmifolia were assayed for antifungal activity against strains
of C. albicans, C. tropicalis, and C. krusei. No clinically relevant antifungal activity was demonstrated by the extracts;
however, a potentiation effect was observed when the extracts were applied with metronidazole against C. tropicalis. M.
arvensis and T. ulmifolia could represent a source of natural products with modifying antifungal activity.

KEY WORDS:  antifungal activity  Mentha arvensis  metronidazole  potentiation activity  Turnera ulmifolia

INTRODUCTION larly as an anti-inflammatory, as an expectorant, and in the

treatment of several problems.5–7 Researchers have detected
C andidiasis or candidosis is the most frequent infec-
tion by opportunistic fungi, where the species com-
monly implicated in the clinical picture are Candida
flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, and phenolic compounds in
preparations from this plant.8–10
Therefore, because of the social and economic impor-
albicans, Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis, Candi-
tance of candidiasis and the increase in the number of in-
da glabrata, and Candida krusei. The spectrum of candidi-
dividuals with immunodeficiency, such as in the case of
asis is very extensive, going from mild manifestations, such
those who are seropositives, we evaluated here the anti-
as a colonization of mucosal tissues, up to systemic pictures,
fungal activity of M. arvensis and T. ulmifolia.
with the invasion of various organs.1
Mentha arvensis (Family Labiatae) is a herbaceous plant
that occurs throughout South America. This plant and in MATERIALS AND METHODS
particular its essential oils are commonly used in folk medi- Plant material
cine, exploiting a wide range of biological and pharmaco-
logical activities. Several compounds have been isolated from Leaves of M. arvensis and T. ulmifolia were collected in
these oils, mainly menthol, p-menthone, menthol acetate, and the rainy season (April 2008) in the county of Crato, Ceará State,
other phytochemicals.2,3 M. arvensis (called hortelã-japonesa Brazil. The plant material was identified by Dr. Arlene Pessoa,
and menta in Brazil) is used in traditional medicine for the and voucher specimens were deposited in the ‘‘Herbário Carir-
treatment of worm diseases and digestive problems. The main iense dárdano de Andrade Lima’’ with the numbers 2886 and
component of the essential oil is menthol, which is widely 1618, respectively.
utilized in the food and pharmaceutical industries.4
Turnera ulmifolia L. (Family Turneraceae), a small an- Preparation of ethanol extracts of M. arvensis
nual herb, can be found in the north and northeast Brazilian and T. ulmifolia
regions, where it is considered a weed.5 It grows preferen- Two hundred grams of leaves was dried and powdered at
tially in sandy soils and on hill slopes. T. ulmifolia L. is room temperature. The powdered material was extracted by
already known to be of medicinal value, being used popu- maceration using 1 L of 95% ethanol as the solvent at room
temperature. The mixture was allowed to stand for 72 hours
Manuscript received 5 May 2011. Revision accepted 26 July 2011. at room temperature. The extract was then filtered and
concentrated under vacuum in a rotary evaporator at a
Address correspondence to: Henrique D.M. Coutinho, Departamento de Quı´mica Bio-
lógica, Universidade Regional do Cariri, Rua Cel. Antonio Luis 1161, Pimenta, 63105-
temperature of 60C under a pressure of 760 mm Hg.11 Each
000, Crato, CE, Brazil, E-mail: [email protected] 200 g of aerial parts yielded 5–6 g of extract. The ethanolic

322
 ANTI-CANDIDA ACTIVITY 323

Table 1. Antifungal and Modulatory Activity of Ethanol Extracts of M. arvensis and T. ulmifolia
Against Strains of C. albicans, C. krusei, and C. tropicalis

Concentration (lg/mL)

Amphotericin B Nystatin Metronidazole

Product or antifungal agent C. albicans C. krusei C. tropicalis C. albicans C. krusei C. tropicalis C. albicans C. krusei C. tropicalis
Antifungal alone ‡1024 ‡1024 ‡1024 ‡1024 ‡1024 ‡1024 64 ‡1024 128
EEMA + antifungal ‡1024 ‡1024 ‡1024 ‡1024 ‡1024 ‡1024 64 ‡1024 32
EETU + antifungal ‡1024 ‡1024 ‡1024 ‡1024 ‡1024 ‡1024 64 ‡1024 32

EEMA, ethanolic extract of M. arvernsis; EETU, ethanolic extract of T. ulmifolia.

extracts of M. arvensis and T. ulmifolia were diluted using of antifungal activity against C. tropicalis was demonstrated
dimethyl sulfoxide. with metronidazole when combined with the ethanolic ex-
tracts of M. arvensis and T. ulmifolia, where the MIC was
Cell strains used lowered fourfold (Table 1).
Extracts of various plants, such as Himatanthus articulates,14
The fungal strains used were C. albicans ATCC 40227, C.
Mentha longifolia,15 Malva sylvestris, and Psidium guajava,16
krusei ATCC 40147, and C. tropicalis ATCC 13803. The
have been tested against yeasts of the genus Candida and
strains were obtained from the collection of microorganisms
represent an alternative in the treatment of candidosis. How-
of the Laboratory of Mycology, Universidade Federal da
ever, this is the first report of potentiation of the activity of an
Paraı́ba, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil. All strains were main-
antifungal drug combined with M. arvensis and T. ulmifolia
tained in heart infusion agar slants (Difco Laboratories,
extracts. The potentiating effect of the ethanolic extracts of M.
Detroit, MI, USA), and before the assays, the cells were
arvensis and T. ulmifolia has been demonstrated against bac-
grown for 24 hours at 37C in brain–heart infusion (Difco
teria showing multidrug resistance to antibiotics.17–20
Laboratories).
This strategy is called ‘‘herbal shotgun’’ or ‘‘synergistic
multi-effect targeting’’ and refers to the utilization of plants
Drugs
and drugs in an approach using mono- or multi-extract
The antifungal drugs used were amphotericin B (Sigma combinations, which can affect not only a single target but
Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO, USA), nystatin (Laboratório various targets, where the different therapeutic components
Teuto Brasileiro S/A, Anápolis, GO, Brazil), and metroni- collaborate in a synergistic–agonistic manner. This ap-
dazole (Prati, Donaduzzi & Cia Ltda., Toledo, PR, Brazil). proach is meant not just for combinations of extracts;
All solutions were prepared following the recommendations combinations between natural products or extracts and
of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Stan- synthetic products or antibiotics are also possible.21
dards.12
CONCLUSIONS
Antifungal and modulatory activity
Thus, M. arvensis and T. ulmifolia could represent a
The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was deter- source of natural products with modifying antifungal ac-
mined in 10% brain–heart infusion by the microdilution tivity, representing an interesting alternative in efforts to
method, using a suspension of 105 colony-forming units/mL combat infectious diseases such as candidiasis.
and an extract concentration in the range of 8–1024 lg/
mL.13 The MIC is defined as the lowest concentration at ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
which no microbial growth is observed. For the evaluation
of the extracts as modifiers of resistance to antifungal The authors are grateful to the Brazilian research agencies
agents, a subinhibitory concentration (MIC/8) was added to CNPq and FUNCAP.
a concentration of the test substance varying from 0.5 to
1024 lg/mL. The plates were incubated for 24 hours at AUTHOR DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
37C. No competing financial interests exist.
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