Antifungal Potential of Some Herb Decoctions and Essential Oils on Candida Species

(1) Background: Candidiasis is a fungal infectious disease caused by opportunistic species. The incidence of candidiasis has improved, due to prolonged antibiotic therapy and an increased number of immunocompromised patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if decoctions and essential oil (EO) of neem ( , Meliaceae family), coptidis ( , Ranunculaceae family), magnolia ( , Magnoliaceae ), scutellaria ( , Lamiaceae family), and the EO of manuka ( , Myrtaceae family), have antifungal activity in vitro against some clinically prevalent species of . (2) Methods: The antifungal activity was studied by the determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum lethal concentration (MLC) against five strains. The effect in dimorphic transition of was also evaluated for the two plants with higher antimicrobial behavior. (3) Results: decoction and EO and EO exhibited antifungal activity in spp. In addition to the fact that both decoction and EO proved strong antifungal activity, EO also displayed a relevant inhibitory effect on the dimorphic transition. (4) Conclusions: The results provided support for the potential use of and in the treatment of infections by spp.