Abstract:
The tea polyphenols have been shown to possess many medicinal properties including antifungal
activity, but there have been few studies regarding antifungal activity. The antifungal activity of tea
polyphenols was evaluated on
Candida albicans
ATCC 90028 a
nd a clinical isolate of
Cryptococcus
neoformans
employing the disc diffusion assay. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the tea
polyphenols against
C. albicans
ATCC 90028 and
a clinical isolate of
C. neoformans
was determined.
Tea polyphenols sh
owed antifungal activity against
C. albicans
ATCC 90028 and a clinical isolate of
C.
neoformans
and both demonstrated an MIC of 1 mg/ml after 24 h. Both fungus were found to be
sensitive to tea all tea extracts (p<0.05). The inhibition zone diameters signi
ficantly (p<0.05) and
positively correlated to the catechins (EGCG and EGC), total TFs and total TRs. The study reveals the
antifungal properties of green, white and black tea products from Kenyan germplasm that may find
therapeutic applications in future.
