title: Antifungal efficacy of thymol, carvacrol, eugenol and menthol as alternative agents to control the growth of food-relevant fungi.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This work is an attempt to examine the antifungal activity of thymol, carvacrol, eugenol and menthol against 11 food-decaying fungi.
  
  
  METHODS
  The susceptibility test for the compounds was carried out in terms of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) using microdilution method in 96 multi-well microtiter plates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results indicated that all compounds were effective to varying extents against various fungal isolates, with the highest efficacy displayed by carvacrol (mean MIC value: 154.5 μg/mL) (P<0.05). The incorporation of increased concentrations of all compounds to the media led to progressive and significant reduction in growth for all fungi. The most potent inhibitory activity of thymol, carvacrol, eugenol and menthol was found for Cladosporium spp. (MIC: 100 μg/mL), Aspergillus spp. (MIC: 100 μg/mL), Cladosporium spp. (MIC: 350 μg/mL), and Aspergillus spp. and Cladosporium spp. (MIC: 125 μg/mL), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Thus, the application of these herbal components could be considered as a good alternatives to inhibit fungal growth and to reduce the use of synthetic fungicides.
authors.affiliation: Baqiyatallah university of medical sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abbaszadeh
authors.affiliation: Mycology research center, faculty of veterinary medicine, university of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharifzadeh
authors.affiliation: Faculty of veterinary medicine, Amol university of special modern technologies, 24th aftab, Imam Khomeini street, Amol, Iran. Electronic address: hshokri@umz.ac.ir.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shokri
authors.affiliation: Mycology research center, faculty of veterinary medicine, university of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Khosravi
authors.affiliation: Kermanshah university of medical sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abbaszadeh
mesh_terms: D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D000081007:Cymenes; D005054:Eugenol / Q000494:pharmacology; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005658:Fungi / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D005670:Fusarium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D008610:Menthol / Q000494:pharmacology; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D039821:Monoterpenes / Q000494:pharmacology; D010407:Penicillium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D013943:Thymol / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D000081007:Cymenes; D039821:Monoterpenes; D008610:Menthol; D013943:Thymol; D005054:Eugenol; C073316:carvacrol
keywords: Aspergillus; Carvacrol; De champignons; Eugenol; Foodborne; Fungi; Le thymol; Menthol; Thymol; Toxi-infections alimentaires