Antifungal Activities of Coconut Oil on C. albicans in Vitro

Abstract

Background: The elderly have changing physical and oral conditions that affect various oral diseases, including oral candidiasis. Antifungal resistance and adverse effects have been described, resulting in reduced therapeutic efficacy. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the antifungal effect of coconut oil on C. albicans in Vitro Methods: Coconut oil used for evaluating the antifungal effect on C. albicans was measured using an agar well diffusion method and specific dyes in the detection of antifungal compounds from coconut oil using a thin layer chromatography agar overlay technique. The broth microdilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC), crystal violet assay was used to determine the influence of coconut oil on C. albicans biofilm development, and Time-kill measurements were done to assess the fungicidal kinetics by counting viable fungal after 0, 2, 4, and 6 hours, respectively. Results: Coconut oil had no antifungal effect in the study’s agar well diffusion method, bioautography agar overlay assay, as well as the broth microdilution method. Nystatin’s minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was discovered to be 0.12207 unit/ ml. The effect of coconut oil on C. albicans biofilm development found that coconut oil at concentrations of 0.3–3% v/v could reduce C. albicans biofilm formation by 20-40%, and the time kill study found that nystatin at a concentration of 80,000 units/mL could kill C. albicans by the second hour of the test, whereas coconut oil at 80 percent v/v, was not able to kill C. albicans. Moreover, the levels of C. albicans had risen. Conclusion: This study did not find that coconut oil can inhibit C. albicans. However, coconut oil was found that at a concentration of 0.3-3% v/v, it could reduce the biofilm formation of C. albicans by 20 to 40%.