Inhibition of Candida infections by synthesized Zinc oxide nanoparticles and mechanism thereof

Candida infections are very serious cause of health issues and consequently, there is critical requirement for novel drug lead compounds with potent antifungal activity and least side effects. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was established by microdilution technique. Drug resistance in microorganisms has imitated significant susceptibility to present medicines; hence alternatives to fight with resistant fungal pathogens are desirable. Our focus was to prepare as well as categorize zinc oxide nanoparticle with Candida sp. and to explore them in terms of their antifungal potential. ZnO NPs have been successfully amalgamated through hydrothermal process utilizing zinc nitrate precursor and calcination at 150 °C for 12 h. The synthesized ZnO NPs determined antifungal activity against fungal isolates. The ZnO NPs were characterized using standard physicochemical characterization viz. XRD, SEM, FTIR and EDX. The characteristic antifungal property of ZnO NPs against C. albicans (ATCC 10231) was estimated. The ZnO NPs depicted antifungal potential which advocate their use as material for development of antifungal drugs to be used in food industry, cosmetics, water purification, textile industry etc.