In Vitro Antifungal Activity of Selected Essential Oils Against Trichophyton mentagrophytes

The in vitro activity of Cinnamomum cassia, Melaleuca alternifolia, and Cymbopogon citratus essential oils and antimycotics clotrimazole, fluconazole, and ketokonazole against T. mentagrophytes was evaluated by the disc-diffusion method. The essential oils were tested at 5, 10, 20, 30, 50, and 100 % concentration. It was found that Cymbopogon, commonly called lemongrass, and cinnamon show stable results independent of the concentration used, whereas the efficacy of tea tree oil, significantly decreases with the decreasing concentration. When comparing the efficacy of antimycotics the largest zone of inhibition was obtained with clotrimazole, while fluconazole proved to be ineffective. We found that cinnamon and lemongrass are more effective than the antimycotics that we have used. Our study confirmed that some essential oils can be used for the treatment of dermatophytoses caused by Trichophyton mentagrophytes and some of them are more effective than the commercial drugs.