Antifungal activity of aqueous and ethanolic garlic extracts against Candida albicans
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Abstract. Suchit TN, Dookie S, Ansari AA, Abrams C. 2025. Antifungal activity of aqueous and ethanolic garlic extracts against Candida albicans. Asian J Trop Biotechnol 22: 94-101. The growing incidence of antifungal resistance threatens the effectiveness of conventional applications and treatments. This study evaluated the antifungal activity of aqueous and ethanolic Allium sativum (garlic) extracts as potential natural alternatives against the common fungus Candida albicans. Disk diffusion assays and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) tests were used to determine the antifungal efficacy of the extracts at four concentrations (100%, 75%, 50% and 25%) and five serial dilutions (50%, 25%, 12.5%, 6.25% and 3.125%), respectively. Our results revealed that both extracts showed concentration-dependent inhibition from 25% upwards. However, ethanolic extracts produced larger zones of inhibition (30.0±0.0 mm) than the aqueous extracts (27.0±1.0 mm). When compared to both garlic extracts, the control Fluconazole exhibited minimal activity (3.0±0.5 mm), suggesting possible resistance of the tested Candida strain or disk preparation limitations. Statistical analyses (one-way ANOVA, Tukey HSD, and Welch t-test) further confirmed significant differences between treatments (p<0.001). Our results indicate that garlic extracts are promising antifungal agents and broader exploration of garlic-derived treatments through in vivo research could contribute to developing natural, affordable, sustainable antifungal therapies for both healthcare systems and communities affected by drug-resistant fungal infections.
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