as a salutiferous superfruit in the treatment of oral candidiasis - An study.

CONTEXT

The rise in the incidence of clinical resistance to antifungal therapy and failure to respond in recent years underscores the need for a time-honored approach to treat the disease using natural drugs instead of synthetic drugs, which have lesser adverse effects and good patient response. (pomegranate) is a fruit that has admirable medicinal value.

AIMS

The study aimed to evaluate the antifungal efficacy of peel extract against oral compared with clotrimazole.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN

The study design involves an in-vitro study.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Saliva from candidiasis patients was inoculated and cultured on 60 separate Sabouraud dextrose agar plates and incubated at 37°C for 48 h from which species were collected. Agar well-diffusion method was followed. Different concentrations of peel extracts, ethanol solvent (control) and standard clotrimazole were added into the wells and allowed to diffuse at room temperature for 2 h. The plates were incubated at 37°C for 48 h. The antifungal potential of test compounds was determined based on the mean diameter of the zone of inhibition around the well in millimeters.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED

Statistical analysis was performed using IBM software SPSS version 20 at one-way ANOVA.

RESULTS

Antifungal efficacies of peel extract and clotrimazole were statistically significant, and there was an increase in inhibitory efficacy with an increase in concentration. Minimum inhibitory concentration of peel extract approximated with that of clotrimazole.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study indicate that peel extract can be used as an effective natural substitute for synthetic antifungal agents.