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Updated: May 29, 2026

Measuring Volatile and Non-volatile Antifungal Activity of Biocontrol Products
Published on: December 5, 2020
Antimicrobial properties of allium species
1Sejong University, Food Science, Kunja-dong, Gwangjin-ku, Seoul, Republic of Korea. kyungkh@sejong.ac.kr
Abstract:
The antimicrobial activity of Allium species has long been recognized, with allicin, other thiosulfinates, and their transformation products having antimicrobial activity. Alliums are inhibitory against all tested microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites. Alliums inhibit multi-drug-resistant microorganisms and often work synergistically with common antimicrobials. Allium-derived antimicrobial compounds inhibit microorganisms by reacting with the sulfhydryl (SH) groups of cellular proteins. It used to be thought that allicin reacts only with cysteine and not with non-SH amino acids, but evidence has accumulated that allicin and other thiosulfinates also react with non-SH amino acids.
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