Abstract
Background: Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungi mainly causing mucosal and opportunistic infections in immunocompromised
people. Origanum vulgare is an herbal plant that has been used as a food flavouring agent in many countries . It has strong antiseptic and
antimicrobial activity due to the presence of carvacrol and thymol, which directly inhibit germination and hyphal formation in candida.
Periodontitis is one of the first diseases to be related to mixed-species biofilms in humans. C. albicans produces virulence factors that
may play a role in the incidence of periodontal disease, such as penetrating ability, colonisation and growth of candida species in the
oral mucosa and periodontal pocket.
AIM: Is to evaluate the antimycotic activity of oregano essential oil on candida species isolated from patient with chronic periodontitis
Materials And Methods: The study was conducted at Saveetha dental college .Ethical clearance for the study was obtained from the
Institutional Ethical Committee. Swabs were obtained from the subgingival plaque tooth surface of patients who had clinical symptoms
of chronic periodontitis. For the isolation of Candida from the clinical samples, the obtained samples were plated onto candida chromagar.
The isolated species of candida is then investigated for antimycotic activity. The antimycotic activity of oregano essential oil on Candida
species isolates was examined using an agar well diffusion assay.
Result And Discussion : Antimycotic activity of the Oregano essential oil against clinical isolates of Candida albicans are shown in the
table. The findings reveal that oregano essential oils showed a zone of inhibition of 21 mm against Candida albicans at concentration of
100μL compared to the standard ketoconazole which shows a zone of inhibition of 25 mm. As the concentration of the extract increases
the zone of inhibition increases .
Conclusion: Based on the results presented , it is possible to conclude that the essential oil extracted from Oregano may represent a
good alternative for the treatment of candidiasis due to its appreciable antifungal action against Candida spp in vitro.

Key words: Candida albicans,Oreganoessentialoil,ketoconazole, chronicperiodontitis.