Abstract

This research was aimed to optimize the synthesis of copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles with the highest antifungal properties against Candida albicans as an oral fungal pathogen. To this end, nine experiments involving different synthesis conditions designed using the Taguchi method and the copper oxide nanoparticles synthesized by coprecipitation method. The antifungal activity of synthesized nanoparticles against Candida albicans was evaluated using the colony forming unit (CFU) and disk diffusion methods. According to the results, the synthesized copper oxide nanoparticles under the experiment 5 conditions (CuCl2 0.1 M, NaOH 0.1 M, and a 75 min stirring time) showed the highest antifungal activity against Candida albicans (71.72%). The optimization results demonstrated, all three studied factors were effective in improving the antifungal activity of copper oxide nanoparticles and the antifungal activity in the proposed conditions can be improved by 77.85%. The synthesis of nanoparticles in optimal conditions confirmed the improved antifungal activity of the nanoparticles. The results of this study proved that CuO nanoparticles have a potential ability as an antifungal agent against oral fungal pathogens of Candida albicans.

Key words: Antifungal activity, CuO nanoparticles, Oral Pathogen, Candida albicans, Taguchi method, Biomedical application