The antimicrobial potential of gingerols against six food-related bacteria was investigated in this study. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of gingerols against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Saccharomyces cereviseae, and Aspergillus niger ranged from 8.0 to 22.0 μg/mL, showing that gingerols could effectively inhibit the growth of all test bacterial pathogens. The time-kill assay demonstrated that the lag phase of S. aureus and S. dysenteriae were apparently delayed by the different concentrations of gingerols. Electron micrographs con?rmed the effects of gingerols on the morphological and ultrastructural characteristics of S. aureus, S. dysenteriae, and A. niger. Electron micrographs revealed that gingerols induced morphological changes to the cell or mycelia, such as shrinkage, local deformation, damage to cell wall and membranes, and loss of cytoplasm. These morphological alterations might be due to the direct effect of gingerols on the cell membrane. DNA damage assay revealed that gingerols had no genotoxic effect on the microbes within the test concentration range, and the functional mechanism of gingerols needs to be explored by further studies.
