Antifungal efficacy of pomegranate aril extract against candida albicans ATCC 10231 in vitro: An experimental study

Introduction: Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is one of the herbal plants that is widely used as a traditional medicine and has been known to contain alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, punicalagin, phenolics and tannins that function as antifungals. Given the need for alternative antifungals with minimal side effects and the potential of pomegranate aril as significant antimicrobials and antifungals. This study aims to determine the inhibitory power of pomegranate aril extract against C. albicans which is a fungus that causes oral candidiasis. Methods: The antifungal activity test was carried out using the agar diffusion method by measuring the diameter of the inhibition zone. The average value of the measurement results was taken to see the effect of the concentration of pomegranate aril extract on the growth of C. albicans. Results: The results showed that pomegranate aril extract concentrations of 50%, 25%, 12.5%, 6.25% and 3.12% did not produce an inhibition zone Conclusions: Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that pomegranate aril extract has no inhibitory power against C. albicans. KEY WORDS: Oral candidiasis, pomegranate aril extract, antifungal, C. albicans, inhibitory zone diameter. Efektivitas antijamur ekstrak aril buah delima terhadap jamur candida albicans ATCC 10231 secara in vitro: Studi eksperimental ABSTRAK Pendahuluan: Delima (Punica granatum L.) merupakan salah satu tanaman herbal yang banyak digunakan sebagai obat tradisional dan telah diketahui mengandung senyawa alkaloid, saponin, flavonoid, punicalagin, fenolik dan tanin yang berfungsi sebagai antijamur. Mengingat adanya kebutuhan akan alternatif antijamur dengan efek samping minimal dan potensi aril buah delima sebagai antimikroba dan antijamur yang signifikan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui daya hambat ekstrak aril buah delima terhadap C. albicans yang merupakan jamur penyebab oral candidiasis. Metode: Ekstrak aril buah delima diperoleh melalui maserasi kemudian diencerkan hingga mendapatkan konsentrasi 50%, 25%, 12,5%, 6,25%, dan 3,12%. Uji aktivitas antijamur dilakukan menggunakan metode difusi agar dengan cara mengukur diameter zona hambat. Hasil pengukuran diambil nilai reratanya untuk melihat pengaruh konsentrasi ekstrak aril buah delima terhadap pertumbuhan C. albicans. Hasil: Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa ekstrak aril buah delima konsentrasi 50%, 25%, 12.5%, 6.25% dan 3.12% tidak menghasilkan zona hambat. Simpulan: Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dapat diperoleh simpulan bahwa ekstrak aril buah delima tidak memiliki daya hambat terhadap C. albicans . KATA KUNCI: Oral candidiasis, ekstrak aril buah delima, antijamur, C. albicans , diameter zona hambat.