Candida species have increasingly deserved a special attention among the medical community. In spite of the presence of Candida species as a human commensal, alarming rates of local and systemic infections have been observed, varying from moderate to severe impact. Currently available antifungal drugs have progressively lost their effectiveness, pointing urgently the problem of the microorganisms with acquired-resistance. Natural matrices are secularly used for numerous purposes, being inclusive and highly effective as antimicrobials. Increasing evidence gives a particular emphasis to the contribution of phenolic extracts and related individual compounds. In vitro studies clearly confirm their prominent effects, but the confirmation through in vivo studies, including the involved mechanisms of action, is not so much deepened. Therefore, the present report aims to provide extensive knowledge about all these aspects, highlighting the most efficient phytochemical formulations, including therapeutic doses. Further studies need to be incited to deepen knowledge on this area, namely, focused on clinical trials to provide safer and more effective antimicrobials than the current ones.
The authors are grateful to Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for N. Martins grant (SFRH/BD/87658/2012), L. Barros researcher contract under “Programa Compromisso com Ciência – 2008” and financial support to the research centre CIMO (strategic project PEst-OE/AGR/UI0690/2014). This work was also supported by the Programa Operacional, Fatores de competitividade – COMPETE and by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia on the scope of the projects FCT PTDC/SAU-MIC/119069/2010, RECI/EBB-EBI/0179/2012 and PEst-OE/EQB/LA0023/2013. The authors thank the Project “BioHealth - Biotechnology and Bioengineering approaches to improve health quality", Ref. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000027, co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2 – O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER.
