Anti-yeast activity of the essential oil of Peumus boldusMol. from the coastal drylands of central Chile against strains that cause uropharyngeal and vulvovaginal candiadiasis

The aim of this study was to investigate the chemical composition and antifungal activity of the essential oil extracted from leaves of Peumus boldusof the coastal drylands of Chile. The essential oil was characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The antifungal activity was evaluated by a microdilution assay against five strains of Candidaof clinical importance. P. boldusessential oil had a yield of 0.32% and nineteen compounds were identified in the analysis, mostly ascaridol (49.95%), o-cymene (13.45%) and eucalyptol (9.71%). All yeast strains tested were sensitive to P. boldusessential oil, with C. guillermondibeing the most sensitive, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 8 μg/mL, twice lower than the MIC value of 16 μg/mL exhibited by fluconazole and itraconazole. These results suggest that P. boldusessential oil could be used as natural antifungal agents in free form or in a formulation against pathogenic yeasts.