COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF ANALYTICAL STANDARD COCONUT OIL AND VIRGIN COCONUT OIL WHEN INCORPORATED IN TISSUE CONDITIONER ON CANDIDA ALBICANS: AN IN VITRO STUDY
Dr. Preeti Satheesh Kumar*
ABSTRACT
Aim: The emergence of antimicrobial resistance, coupled with the availability of fewer antifungal agents with fungicidal actions, prompted this present study to determine the effectiveness of coconut oil as an antifungal agent on these species. Materials & methods: Lyophilized culture of Candida albicans was inoculated in Tryptone Soya Broth (TSB) and was incubated overnight at 37°C. The analytical standard Cocos nucifera oil and commercially available virgin coconut oil were primarily screened for their antifungal activities by performing minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against C. albicans ATCC 24433. The lowest concentration of the oil needed to inhibit microbial growth compared to the positive control culture was considered as MIC. The results were observed after 48 hours of incubation at 37°C. MIC of analytical standard coconut oil against Candida albicans was observed to be 20%. MIC of commercially available coconut oil against Candida albicans was observed to be 100%, undiluted oil. Analysis of the the inhibition diameters (IDs) of eight concentrations (% v/v) of analytical standard Cocos nucifera oil in tissue conditioner (n = 20 each) revealed that the range of mean inhibitory diameter (MID) for different concentrations was between 5 and 16.55 mm at 48 hours. The ANOVA followed by post hoc test showed that even at the end of 7 days, 20% concentration was significantly [P value (0.000)] more effective than all other concentrations tested. Conclusion: Analytical grade coconut oil is active in killing C. albicans. More studies should be done to ascertain the mechanisms of actions of medium chain fatty acids on microorganism generally and their susceptibility pattern.
Keywords: Tissue conditioner, coconut oil, Candida albicans, anti fungal, minimum inhibitory concentration.
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