Anti-yeast activities of Origanum oil against human pathogenic yeasts

Outbreak of autoimmune diseases by pathogenic yeasts has led to a serious medical threat. As these organisms evolve resistance to existing antifungal drugs, the concern could be further compounded. The realm of plant derived products offers a wide spectrum of potentially valuable alternatives to the existing synthetic fungicides. Essential oils from sev-eral medicinal plants have been shown to exhibit pharmacological attributes. In the present study, anti-yeast properties of Oregano essential oil (OEO) were examined in vitro against four human patho-genic yeasts i.e., Candida albicans, Cryptococcus al-bidus, Cryptococcus neoformans and Rhodotorula ru-brum. OEO concentration of 200 μg/mL was found to be growth inhibitory against all four yeasts examined, thereby showing its potential to function as a natural anti-yeast agent.