Antifungal effect and mechanism of garlic oil on Penicillium funiculosum

Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2014 Oct;98(19):8337-46. doi: 10.1007/s00253-014-5919-9. Epub 2014 Jul 12.

Abstract

Garlic oil is a kind of fungicide, but little is known about its antifungal effects and mechanism. In this study, the chemical constituents, antifungal activity, and effects of garlic oil were studied with Penicillium funiculosum as a model strain. Results showed that the minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFCs, v/v) were 0.125 and 0.0313 % in agar medium and broth medium, respectively, suggesting that the garlic oil had a strong antifungal activity. The main ingredients of garlic oil were identified as sulfides, mainly including disulfides (36 %), trisulfides (32 %) and monosulfides (29 %) by gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC/MS), which were estimated as the dominant antifungal factors. The observation results by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) indicated that garlic oil could firstly penetrate into hyphae cells and even their organelles, and then destroy the cellular structure, finally leading to the leakage of both cytoplasm and macromolecules. Further proteomic analysis displayed garlic oil was able to induce a stimulated or weakened expression of some key proteins for physiological metabolism. Therefore, our study proved that garlic oil can work multiple sites of the hyphae of P. funiculosum to cause their death. The high antifungal effects of garlic oil makes it a broad application prospect in antifungal industries.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Allyl Compounds / chemistry
  • Allyl Compounds / pharmacology*
  • Antifungal Agents / chemistry
  • Antifungal Agents / pharmacology*
  • Garlic / chemistry*
  • Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
  • Hyphae / drug effects
  • Hyphae / growth & development
  • Penicillium / drug effects*
  • Penicillium / growth & development
  • Plant Extracts / chemistry
  • Plant Extracts / pharmacology*
  • Sulfides / chemistry
  • Sulfides / pharmacology*

Substances

  • Allyl Compounds
  • Antifungal Agents
  • Plant Extracts
  • Sulfides
  • allyl sulfide