Abstract:Two kinds of aged garlic extracts (AGEs) namely AGE-1 and AGE-2 were prepared by soaking fresh garlic slices in a solution of 10% ethanol and distilled water, respectively, for a certain period, at room temperature. Subsequently, AGE-1 and AGE-2 were sequentially extracted with petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol to yield fractions with different polarities. Inhibition zone tests were employed to study the antimicrobial activities of these fractions against multiple bacteria, mold fungi, and actinomycetes. The results showed that the petroleum ether and ethyl acetate fractions exhibited high antimicrobial activities, the n-butanol fraction showed low antimicrobial activity, and the water fraction exhibited no antimicrobial activity. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to analyze the petroleum ether and ethyl acetate fractions with high antimicrobial activities. In AGE-1, various compounds containing -S (O) -S- groups in the petroleum ether fraction might have led to the strong antimicrobial activity. In addition, multiple phenols and organic acids were found in the petroleum ether and ethyl acetate fractions from AGE-1 and AGE-2, and they might have contributed to the antimicrobial activities of AGE. The differences in the functional components between AGE-1 and AGE-2 might have caused the difference in their antimicrobial activities.
