Issue
Copyright (c) 2025 Ayshah Alrashidi, Badria Abd El-Rahman Husin Husin, Meshari Alazmi, Abdel Moneim Sulieman
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The undersigned hereby assign all rights, included but not limited to copyright, for this manuscript to CMB Association upon its submission for consideration to publication on Cellular and Molecular Biology. The rights assigned include, but are not limited to, the sole and exclusive rights to license, sell, subsequently assign, derive, distribute, display and reproduce this manuscript, in whole or in part, in any format, electronic or otherwise, including those in existence at the time this agreement was signed. The authors hereby warrant that they have not granted or assigned, and shall not grant or assign, the aforementioned rights to any other person, firm, organization, or other entity. All rights are automatically restored to authors if this manuscript is not accepted for publication.Modulatory effects of Mentha longifolia and Mentha spicata essential oils on Candida albicans biofilm formation
Corresponding Author(s) : Ayshah Alrashidi
Cellular and Molecular Biology,
Vol. 71 No. 12: Issue 12
Abstract
Mentha longifolia (horsemint) and Mentha spicata (spearmint) are economically valuable aromatic plants widely utilized in food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries due to their rich reservoir of bioactive compounds. This study investigated the antifungal and antibiofilm properties of essential oils extracted from these species against various Candida strains, particularly Candida albicans, a major opportunistic pathogen responsible for oral and systemic infections. Essential oils were extracted via hydrodistillation using a Clevenger apparatus and chemically characterized through GC-MS, revealing that M. longifolia oil was predominantly composed of pulegone (29.7%), menthone (26%), and eucalyptol (17.8%), while M. spicata oil was mainly enriched in pulegone (68.5%), eucalyptol (5.2%), and thymol (3.5%). The antifungal activity, evaluated by agar-well diffusion and broth microdilution assays, showed inhibition zones ranging from 9–14 mm for M. longifolia and 9–12 mm for M. spicata, with corresponding minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 0.39–6.25 mg/mL and fungicidal concentrations (MFCs) of 12.5–100 mg/mL. Both oils markedly reduced biofilm biomass in a concentration-dependent manner, with up to 90% inhibition observed at 4× MIC. The potent biofilm disruption was attributed to the high terpenoid content, capable of altering fungal membrane integrity. Overall, these findings demonstrate that the essential oils of M. longifolia and M. spicata possess significant antifungal and antibiofilm potential, highlighting their possible application as natural, plant-derived therapeutic agents for controlling Candida-associated oral and biomedical infections.
Keywords
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)BibTeX
