Abstract

INVITRO EVALUATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL AND ALOE VERA MOUTHWASHES AGAINST CANDIDA ALBICANS

Jeevitha, T.*, K. Deepa and A. Michael

Abstract

Focusing on the scientific evidence for the effect of herbal medicines has been increased during recent decades. People are interested in herbal remedies for medication and aim to substitute herbal medicines instead of chemical drugs with limited side effects for human wellbeing. The current study was conducted to compare the in vitro effect of herbal and chemical mouthwashes against Candida albicans which is the major cause of oral candidiasis infection. A total of four mouthwashes including three chemical and one aloe vera mouthwashes were tested against Candida albicans by agar diffusion method. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of mouthwashes were determined by broth macro dilution method. The results showed that all the mouthwashes showed zones of inhibition against Candida albicans. Chlorhexidine showed higher zone of inhibition followed by Aloe vera then Colgate plax and Listerine. The results of MIC indicated that Chlorhexidine showed inhibition even at lowest dilution but Aloevera was effective at its original concentration. The findings of the study demonstrated that aloe vera mouthwash have antifungal properties as equal to the chemical mouthwashes that might represent appropriate alternative to conventional chemical mouthwashes in the management of Candida albicans.

Keywords: Mouthwash, Aloe vera, Antifungal activity, Candida albicans.