Background and Aim:Candidiasis is a common fungal disease in the oral cavity. Recently, due to drug resistance and known side effects of medications, there has been an increasing tendency toward the use of medicinal plants. This study aimed to evaluate antifungal effect of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of banana pulp and banana peel (Musa AAA group, Cavendish subgroup) on standard Candida Albicans. Materials and Methods:In this in vitro study, aqueous and alcoholic extracts of banana pulp and peel (Cavendish banana) were prepared at concentrations of 5, 2.5, 1.25, 0.62, and 0.31 mg/ml (n=32). The antifungal effects of the extracts were assessed using the disc diffusion method on agar. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of the extracts were determined in comparison with nystatin. For analyzing data SPSS software version 26 and repeated measures ANOVA test was used. Results: The highest mean diameter of the inhibition zone in all groups belonged to nystatin, concentrations of 5 mg/ml, 2.5 mg/ml, 1.25 mg/ml, 0.62 mg/ml, and 0.31 mg/ml, respectively. There was no significant difference in the mean inhibition zone diameters between banana peel extracts and banana pulp extracts (p=0.09). However, the mean inhibition zone diameters of alcoholic extracts were significantly higher than those of aqueous extracts (p<0.001). The mean inhibition zone diameters of all concentrations were significantly lower than that of nystatin (p<0.05). Conclusion: Aqueous and alcoholic extracts of banana (Musa AAA group, Cavendish subgroup) inhibited the growth of Candida Albicans, although their efficacy was lower than that of nystatin.
Ariaei S, Rezvan Behbahani Behbahani M, Amini N. Study of antifungal effect of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of banana pulp and banana peel (Musa AAA group, Cavendish subgroup) on standard Candida Albicans. J Res Dent Sci 2025; 22 (3) :200-210 URL: http://jrds.ir/article-1-1565-en.html