Int. J. Pharm. Sci. Rev. Res., 16(1), 2012; nᵒ 24, 125-129 ISSN 0976 – 044X International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Review and Research Page 125 Available online at www.globalresearchonline.net M amta Bhatia* , Alka Sharma Department of Food Technology, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar, Haryana, India. * Corresponding author’s E-mail: bhatiamamta09@gmail.com Accepted on: 23-07-2012; Finalized on: 31-08-2012. ABSTRACT Plant parts of eight spices namely Allium sativum, Brassica nigra, Cinnamomum cassia, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Cuminum cyminum, Curcuma longa, Trigonella foenum-graecum and Zingiber officinale were screened for their anticandidal activities towards Candida albicans (NCIM 227), in culture media. Aqueous extracts, essential oils and powdered forms of reference spices constituted the test materials for present study. Spice agar method was followed for investigating anticandidal activities of powdered spice samples, while impregnated paper disc method and broth dilution technique were opted for screening inhibitory potentials of aqueous extracts and essential oils. Results revealed that essential oils most effectively inhibited the test microbe followed by powdered forms and aqueous extracts. Among all the powdered spice samples tested, C. zeylanicum inhibited C. albicans most effectively, and among essential oils, B. nigra produced widest growth inhibitory zone against test yeast strain. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of different spice forms were also determined. Keywords: Anticandidal, antimicrobial, essential oils, medicinal plants, spices. INTRODUCTION Spices need fewer introductions and for people throughout the world, they stimulate the appetite, add flavor and texture to otherwise monotonous and insipid foods and create visual appeals in meals. Called as behart (Arabic), besamin (Hebrew), epices (French), especerias (Spanish), kimem (Ethiopian), krooder (Norwegian), masala (Hindi), rempah (Malaysian and Indonesian), sheng liu (Mandarin) and specerjein (Dutch), these vital culinary addendums have been savored and sought for their preservative, aphrodisiac and medicinal faculties, since the dawn of civilization. There is at present growing interest, both in the food as well as pharmaceutical industry for spices because of their antimicrobial properties and from the point of view of safety 1 . Moreover, current economic and biological assessment upon withdrawal of most of the conventional synthetic preservatives have elicited widespread interest in providing new perspectives for the development and commercialization of future antimicrobials based on natural substances particularly of plant origin, those are socially more acceptable 2 . Thus, present study (in vitro) was undertaken to assess the inhibitory activities of eight spices, widely used in domestic culinary practices and as traditional medicines in Indian subcontinent, towards Candida albicans. C. albicans is an opportunistic yeast responsible for oral and genital infections in humans and for spoilage of soft drinks, canned or frozen fruit juices, fruit jams, pickles, mushrooms, cheeses and meats etc. M ATERIALS AND M ETHODS Procurement of spice samples The dried plant parts of the spices i.e Brassica nigra, Cinnamomum cassia, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Cuminum cyminum, Curcuma longa and Trigonella foenum-graecum were procured in a single lot, in the amounts of 500 g each, from a wholesaler spice-seller, local market, Hisar, India. These spice samples were cleaned manually for extraneous material, ground to powdered form and were kept in airtight containers. Fresh plant parts of Allium sativum, and Zingiber officinale were purchased in the amounts of 1 kg each from grocery shop, local market, Hisar, India. The outer coverings of A. sativum bulbs and Z. officinale rhizomes were peeled off manually with the help of knife. Fresh forms of these spices were washed with distilled water to remove the foreign particles and were dried in shade for 5 days (temperature 24-27°C; Relative Humidity 55±5%) followed by their grinding in the laboratory grinder. These ground forms of A. sativum and Z. officinale were kept in airtight containers till further use. Plant parts of different spices used in current study and botanical information of test spices are given in Table 1. Essential oils of A. sativum, C. cassia (Blume), C. zeylanicum, C. cyminum, C. longa, T. foenum-graecum and Z. officinale were procured from Aroma Chemicals Pvt. Limited, India. Quality of the spice essential oils was assured by the company to be more than 99.0 %. Essential oils were stored in the dark amber colored, screw capped glass bottles and were kept away from light to avoid physicochemical changes in their compositions. These bottles were closed tightly to check the loss of volatiles and were opened only for a short while, whenever required. INACTIVATION OF CANDIDIA ALBICANS IN CULTURE M EDIA BY EIGHT SPICES NATIVE TO INDIAN SUBCONTINENT Research Article