Evaluation of in vitro activity of carvacrol against Candida albicans strains.

In this study, the in vitro activity of carvacrol on 100 clinical isolates of Candida albicans was evaluated by determining the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). Susceptibility of clinical isolates of C. albicans to carvacrol was determined by broth microdilution method. Carvacrol was active in vitro against all strains of C. albicans, with MICs ranging from 0.125% to 0.004%. MIC(50) and MIC(90) values of carvacrol were observed at 0.064 and 0.125 mg mL(-1), respectively. MIC and MFC values were similar for most of the tested strains. These results indicated that carvacrol inhibited the growth of C. albicans, implying its potential use in the topical treatment of C. albicans infections.