title: Chemical composition and antifungal activity of Carica papaya Linn. seed essential oil against Candida spp.
abstract: In recent years, the incidence of clinical yeast infections has increased dramatically. Due to the extensive use of broad-spectrum antifungal agents, there has been a notable increase in drug resistance among infections yeast species. As one of the most popular natural antimicrobial agents, essential oils (EOs) have attracted a lot of attention from the scientific community. The aim of this study was to analyse the chemical composition and examine the antifungal activity of the EO extracted from the seeds of Carica papaya Linn. The papaya seed EO was analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The major constituent is benzyl isothiocyanate (99·36%). The filter paper disc diffusion method and broth dilution method were employed. The EO showed inhibitory effect against all the tested Candida strains including C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis and C. tropical with inhibition zone diameters in the range of 14·2-33·2 mm, the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) in the range of 4·0-16·0 μg ml-1and the minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFCs) in the range of 16·0-64·0 μg ml-1. Here, we found that the papaya seed EO has promising anticandida activity and identify C. papaya L. as a potential natural source of antifungal agents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The chemical composition and antifungal activity of essential oil of Carica papaya seeds were studied. The oil of papaya seeds could inhibit the growth of Candida spp. for the first report. Carica Papaya may be recognized as a possible new source of natural antifungal agents.
authors.affiliation: Public Research Laboratory, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China.|School of Pharmacy, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Hainan Provincial Institute for Drug Control, Haikou, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Public Research Laboratory, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Public Research Laboratory, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Public Research Laboratory, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Public Research Laboratory, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002175:Candida / Q000187:drug effects*; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D029441:Carica / Q000737:chemistry*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D009822:Oils, Volatile
keywords: 
  Candida
  ; Carica papaya Linn.; antifungal activity; essential oil; gas chromatography-mass spectrometry