Cover Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association
Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association
ISSN:
8750-7315
Online Publication Date:
Oct 1998

1998 William J. Stickel Bronze Award. Antifungal activity of Melaleuca alternifolia (tea-tree) oil against various pathogenic organisms

JM Concha Department of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery, Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington Hospital, DE, USA.

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LS Moore Department of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery, Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington Hospital, DE, USA.

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WJ Holloway Department of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery, Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington Hospital, DE, USA.

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7547/87507315-88-10-489
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Tea-tree oil (oil of Melaleuca alternifolia) has recently received much attention as a natural remedy for bacterial and fungal infections of the skin and mucosa. As with most naturally occurring agents, claims of effectiveness have been only anecdotal; however, several published studies have recently demonstrated tea-tree oil's antibacterial activity. This study was conducted to determine the activity of tea-tree oil against 58 clinical isolates: Candida albicans (n = 10), Trichophyton rubrum (n = 8), Trichophyton mentagrophytes (n = 9), Trichophyton tonsurans (n = 10), Aspergillus niger (n = 9), Penicillium species (n = 9), Epidermophyton floccosum (n = 2), and Microsporum gypsum (n = 1). Tea-tree oil showed inhibitory activity against all isolates tested except one strain of E floccosum. These in vitro results suggest that tea-tree oil may be useful in the treatment of yeast and fungal mucosal and skin infections.

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