The high incidence of dermatomycosis in veterinary medicine and the development of fungal
resistance front the usual antifungal drugs have stimulated the research to find new antifungal
agents, which can be used as alternative methods in the treatment of these diseases. Some
plants of Brazilian Northeast have been studied about its antifungal potential and its
satisfactory results have stimulated the search for new actives plants against fungi. Going to
the meeting of this perspective, the aims of this study were to evaluate the antifungal activity
of extracts and essential oils obtained from plants commonly found in Brazilian Northeast
against strains of M.canis and Candida spp. isolated from dogs, and to determine the chemical
constitution of essential oils, in order to identify its majority constituents. The ethanolic
extracts of Calotropis procera, Momordica charantia, Peschiera affinis and Piper
tuberculatum, the cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) and constituents (anacardic acid, cardol and
cardanol) obtained from Anacardium occidentale, the of decoct of Mangifera indica, and the
essential oils from Coriandrum sativum and the varieties Tommy Atkins, Rosa, Moscatel and
Jamim of M. indica were evaluated. The essential oils were obtained by hydro-distillation
method and the chemical compositions were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass
spectroscopy. The fungal strains were obtained from the collection of the Specialized Medical
Mycology Center, and the antifungal activity was ascertained by agar-well diffusion and broth
microdilution methods. The ethanolic extracts of M. charantia, P. tuberculatum, P. affinis and
the decoct of M. indica were effective only against M. canis strains, while the essential oil
from C. sativum was active against all tested fungi. The essential oils from M. indica varieties
showed good anti-Candida activity, however the Jasmim variety was most effective. Linalool
and geraniol were the main constituents of the C. sativum essential oil. The varieties Rosa,
Moscatel and Jasmim presents caryophyllene oxide and humulene II epoxide as main
constituents, while the main constituents of Tommy Atkins variety were –selinene and
caryophyllene oxide. Facing the foregoing, it appears that the flora of Northeast is a rich
source of plants with antifungal potential, and more studies must be conducted in order to
optimize the utilization of natural resources in the treatment of mycosis in veterinary
medicine.
