Background: Candida species are the most common opportunistic fungal infections. Today, cinnamon plants have been considered for anti-Candida properties.
Aim: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cinnamaldehyde extract (from cinnamon derivatives) on Candida albicans and Candida glabrata species and comparison with nystatin.
Material and methods: In this study, cinnamaldehyde and nystatin were used. The specimens included Candida albicans and Candida glabrata. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) were measured for each one by the microdilution method. This experiment was repeated three times.
Results: Cinnamaldehyde extract at a concentration of 62.5 μl/ml was able to prevent the growth of Candida albicans, at a concentration of 93.7 μl/ml, causing Candida albicans to disappear, at 48.8 μl/ml, to prevent the growth of Candida glabrata, and in the concentration of 62.5 μl/ml, causes the loss of Candida glabrata. In comparison, nystatin at 0.5 μg/ml concentration prevented the growth of Candida albicans, at concentrations of 1 μg/ml causing Candida albicans to be destroyed, at 4 μg/ml concentration to prevent the growth of Candida glabrata, and at a concentration of 8 μg/ml causes the loss of Candida glabrata. The results were the same every three times.
Conclusions: Although cinnamaldehyde extract had an effect on fungal growth in both Candida albicans and Candida glabrata with a fatal effect; the effect on these two species was lower than nystatin.
Keywords: Candida albicans; Candida glabrata; Cinnamaldehyde; Cinnamon; Nystatin.