Inhibitory effect of seven Allium plants upon three Aspergillus species

Antifungal activity and minimal fungicidal concentration (MFC) of extracts of garlic, bakeri garlic, Chinese leek, Chinese chive, scallion, onion bulb and shallot bulb against Aspergillus niger, A. flavus and A. fumigatus were examined. These Allium plants possessed antifungal activity, with garlic showing the lowest MFC. With the exception of scallion, the inhibitory effect of Allium plants against three Aspergillus species decreased with increasing incubation and heating temperature (P<0.05). Acetic acid treatments of the extracts increased the inhibitory effect for all plants against three fungi (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference in this effect among the three pH (2, 4, 6) treatments (P>0.05) investigated. Acetic acid, at pH=4, plus heat treatments of the extracts resulted in a greater inhibitory effect for all Allium plants against the three fungi than heat treatment alone (P<0.05). Treatments of the extracts with NaCl, at concentrations of 0.2 and 0.4 M, did not affect the inhibitory effect of the plant extracts. The combination of acetic acid plus Allium plants was indicated to be an effective way to inhibit fungal growth.