Screening of Food Additives and Plant Extracts against Candida Albicans in Vitro for Prevention of Denture Stomatitis

Denture stomatitis is mainly caused by a fungal species Candida albicans. The antifungal agents tested in this experiment are highly secure, especially essential oils, which have no residue after treatment. The agar well diffusion and disc diffusion methods were used to determine the antifungal activity, and the agar dilution method to determine the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of food additives and plant extracts. Butyl paraben sodium had the lowest MIC value of 0.25 mg·mL-1, followed by chitosan, 0.5 mg·mL-1, among the five food additives tested, and that thyme essential oil exhibited its MIC of 0.25 μL·mL-1, the best among the five plant extracts tested. In view of its strong antifungal activity and user-friendliness (both liquid and fumigation usages), thyme essential oil may be used as a natural disinfectant for the prevention of denture stomatitis.