Antidermatophytic Properties of Ar-Turmerone, Turmeric Oil, and Curcuma longa Preparations

Curcuma longa L. or turmeric of the family Zingiberaceae is widely used in Thai traditional medicines for the treatment of rash, itching, tinea, and ringworm. Previous studies on turmeric oil reported effective antifungal activity against dermatophytes, a group of fungi that causes skin diseases. In this study, turmeric creams containing 6 and 10% w/w turmeric oil were prepared and tested against clinical strains of dermatophytes using broth dilution technique. Minimum fungicidal concentrations of 6 and 10% w/w turmeric creams were found to be 312 μg/mL. Ar-turmerone, a major compound separated from turmeric oil, promoted more effective antidermatophytic activity with the MICs of 1.56–6.25 μg/mL, compared to 3.90–7.81 μg/mL of standard ketoconazole. The results indicated that 6% w/w turmeric oil in the cream was suitable to be formulated as antidermatophytic preparation. Further research should be done on long-term chemical and antifungal stabilities of the preparation.