Phytochemical and Antifungical Study of Camellia Sinensis in Candida Albicans: in Vitro

Objectives: To characterize the phytochemical content of aqueous extract of green tea (Camellia sinensis) and antifungal effect on Candida albicans.
Methods: The identification of phenols and flavonoids was carried-out with HPLC. The aqueous extract of green tea (GT) was obtained at 10%, and reference standards [(-)-Gallocatechin, (-)-Epigallocatechin), (+)-Catechin, (-)-Epigallocatechin-gallate, (-)-Epicatechin-Caffeine, acid-gallic] were used. Regarding the agar diffusion and microdilution assay, GT was prepared at 10%. The ATCC fungal strain was subcultured on Sabouraud's dextrose agar plates at 0.5 McFarland scale. GT dilutions (1.25-10%) were inoculated with sensitivity disk and in microplate. The groups were Control (+) Fluconazole 25 mcg and Control (-) sterile saline solution. For the microdilution assay, the plate was incubated for 24 h at 37°C. In the diffusion assay, the inhibition halo (mm) was determined. All experiments were performed in triplicate (n=9) and analyzed with Shapiro-Wilks normality test and ANOVA post-hoc Tukey test, p<0.05 with a 95% confidence interval.
Results: The seven bioactive metabolites were identified and from the higher to the lower, as follow: Caffeine<(-)-EpigallocatechinConclusions: The seven identified metabolites inhibit signifincantly the Candida albicans in a dose-dependent manner. The antifungal effect is most likely associated with the presence of caffeine, gallic acid and catechin.The perspective of the used of green tea for dental-antifungical clinical applications are promising.