Antifungal activity of the essential oil of Thymus capitellatus against Candida, Aspergillus and dermatophyte strains

The antifungal activity of Thymus capitellatus oils on Candida, Aspergillus and dermatophyte strains were studied. The essential oils were obtained from the aerial parts of the plants by water distillation and analysed by GC and GC–MS. Three chemotypes were characterized: 1,8-cineole (47.5%), 1,8-cineole/borneol (28.8% and 19.5%, respectively) and 1,8-cineole/linalyl acetate/linalool (27.5%, 20.0% and 17.0%, respectively). The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) determined according to the NCCLS protocols (M27-A and M38-P) and the minimal lethal concentration (MLC) were used to evaluate the antifungal activity of the oils against Candida (seven clinical isolates and three ATCC type strains), Aspergillus (five clinical isolates, two CECT and two ATCC type strains) and five dermatophyte clinical fungi strains. The oils exhibited antifungal activity for the dermatophyte strains, with MIC values of 0.32–1.25 µl/ml; the chemotype 1,8-cineole/linalyl acetate/linalool proved to be more active. The highest antifungal activity of this oil can be associated with the contribution of the linalyl acetate. In the other hand, all samples showed low activity against Candida and Aspergillus strains. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.