In vitro Antifungal Activity of Cucumis melo on Candida albicans

With respect to the emergence of susceptibility of some fungi to antifungal agents, making use of medicinal plants is progressing. The aim of this study was to verify the anti-fungal characteristics of mature and immature Cucumis melo fruit on Candida albicans. In this descriptive study, antifungal activity of aqueous, ethnolic and methanolic extracts of C. melo fruits were tested on C. albicans; also results were obtained by disc and well diffusion methods. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of mature C. melo fruit methanolic extract were 25 × 103 and 5 × 104 μg/mL, respectively. MIC and MFC of immature fruit methanolic extract was 25 × 103. For mature fruit ethanolic extract, MIC and MFC was 25 × 103 μg/mL and for immature C. melo fruit ethanolic extract MIC was 25 × 103 and MFC was 5 × 104 μg/mL. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) results showed that hexadecanoic acid was present in all of the extracts. The maximum size of inhibition zone for mature and immature methanolic extact in the disc method was 12 mm and in well method were 15 and 17 mm, respectively. In the disc method, for mature and immature ethanolic extracts maximum size of inhibition zones were 35 and 36 mm and in the well method, maximum size of inhibition zones for mature and immature ethanolic extracts were 28 and 15 mm, respectively. These results indicated that C. melo extracts contain compounds with therapeutic potential and anti-fungal characteristics against C. albicans.