[Determination of esterase activity of Candida varieties]

This study was performed to determine the esterase activity of Candida species and to search the usefulness of tween 80 opacity test for the identification. Totally 124 Candida strains (66 C. albicans, 25 C. tropicalis, 14 C. parapsilosis, 10 C. glabrata, 3 C. krusei, 2 C. kefyr, 2 C. guilliermondii, 1 C. lusitaniae, 1 C. rugosa) isolated from various clinical specimens were included in this study. Tween 80 opacity test was applied to the strains and the plates were evaluated after incubation at 30 degrees C for ten days, by examining daily, for the presence of an opaque zone. As a result, 63 of (%95) of C. albicans, 23 of (93%) C. tropicalis, 8 of (57%) of C. parapsilosis and 1 (10%) of C. glabrata strains were found positive for esterase activity, whereas the other strains were found negative. It can be concluded that, tween 80 opacity test is a simple and economical method and may be useful as a supplementary test for the identification of Candida species, by detecting esterase activities which have arised on different days.