New perspectives of Juglans regia L. phytochemicals against Candida species
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resumo
Opportunistic fungal infections have deserved special relevance in the last decades, presenting itself, a
serious problem in terms of public health. Despite Candida albicans was considered the main agent
responsible for those infections, other non-albicans Candida species have also been described in the last
years [1-3]. Most of the species are susceptible to antimicrobial drugs, but recently it has been observed a
growing number of microorganisms with drug resistance. Therefore, the discover/use of alternative
therapies is crucial [4].
Juglans regia L. (walnut) leaves are commonly used in traditional medicine as antiseptic, antimicrobial and
anti-inflammatory [5]; those benefits could be related with its richness in phenolic compounds [6]. In the
present work, the antifungal potential of the hydroalcoholic extract prepared from walnut leaves was
evaluated against a total of nineteen Candida strains (from the species: C.albicans, C.glabrata,
C.parapsilosis and C.tropicalis), using the disc diffusion halo assay.
All the tested strains were sensible to the plant extract. The obtained values of the inhibitory zones ranged
between 0.9-1.4 cm, being the halo maintained after 48h. The observed antifungal activity is certainly
related to the phenolic compounds previously determined in the extract [6]: five phenolic acid derivativescaffeoylquinic
and p-coumaroylquinic acid derivatives, two dimers and one trimer of procyanidins, twelve
flavonols- quercetin, myricetin and kaempferol derivatives, and five taxifolin O-pentoside isomers; 3-Ocaffeoylquinic
acids and quercetin O-pentoside were the main phenolic compounds. Further studies are
necessaries in order to elucidate the most active compounds and the specific role of each one.
