Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Chemical composition and antifungal properties of essential oil of Origanum vulgare Linnaeus (Lamiaceae) against Sporothrix schenckii and Sporothrix brasiliensis

Camila SF Couto1¹, Nádia RB Raposo1¹, Sônia Rozental², Luana P Borba-Santos², Leila ML Bezerra³, Priscila A de Almeida¹, Marcos AF Brandão¹

¹Núcleo de Pesquisa e Inovação em Ciências da Saúde (NUPICS), Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, 36036-900 Juiz de Fora, MG; ²Laboratório de Biologia Celular de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho (IBCCF), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-902 Rio de Janeiro; ³Laboratório de Micologia Celular e Proteômica (LMCProt), Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, 20550-013 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.

For correspondence:- Marcos Brandão Email: marcosbrand2012@gmail.com Tel:+55 32 21023809

Received: 29 October 2014 Accepted: 28 May 2015 Published: 29 July 2015

Citation: Couto1 CS, Raposo1 NR, Rozental S, Borba-Santos LP, Bezerra LM, de Almeida PA, et al. Chemical composition and antifungal properties of essential oil of Origanum vulgare Linnaeus (Lamiaceae) against Sporothrix schenckii and Sporothrix brasiliensis. Trop J Pharm Res 2015; 14(7):1207-1212 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v14i7.12

© 2015 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of the essential oil of Origanum vulgare Linnaeus (Lamiaceae) on the growth of Sporothrix schenckii and Sporothrix brasiliensis.

Methods: The chemical composition of the essential oil was investigated by gas chromatography/flame ionization detector (GC-FID). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) were determined by broth micro-dilution method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was also performed to reveal morphological alterations in Sporothrix spp. cells.

Results: The major components of the essential oil were γ-terpinene (30.5 %), carvacrol (15.7 %) and 4-terpineol (13.0 %). γ-Terpinene showed potential antifungal activity with MIC ranging from 62.5 to 500.0 µg mL^-1 for S. schenckii, and 125.0 to 250.0 µg mL^-1 for S. brasiliensis. SEM micrographs revealed morphological alterations in hyphae and reduction of the adhered conidia numbers.

Conclusion: Origanum vulgare Linnaeus essential oil possesses potential antifungal activity, and can, therefore, can be developed as an alternative agent for the treatment of sporotrichosis.

Keywords: Antifungal activity, Essential oil, Gas chromatography, Origanum vulgare, Sporotrichosis