<論文・報告>薬味野菜による抗菌作用の相乗効果

Abstract

The recent appearance of drug-resistant bacteria is a serious emerging problem. One way to inhibit the growth of drug-resistant bacteria is to identify novel classes of antimicrobial substances. In this study, fresh food juices were screened for antimicrobial activity using the paper disk diffusion assay. Consistent with previous studies, garlic and green onion exhibited antimicrobial properties. We therefore examined the synergistic antimicrobial effects of these traditional condiment vegetables as well as ginger (3G condiments). Significant synergistic inhibitory effects were observed against gram-positive bacteria by using combinations of garlic and green onion, or garlic and ginger. Since garlic and green onion contain the same enzymes, the bioactive substance may be rapidly produced by efficient conversion of substrates in the mixture. In contrast, surfactant-like components in ginger are thought to enhance the membrane permeability of antibacterial substances derived from garlic. These results indicate the existence of reasonable synergistic antimicrobial effects in traditional combinations of condiment vegetables.

近年問題となっている薬剤耐性菌の出現に対抗する方法として、新たな抗菌物質を発見することが挙げられる。本研究では、食品の絞り汁の抗菌活性をスクリーニングし、活性を示したニンニク、白ネギに加えて、ショウガを合わせた薬味野菜の相乗効果を調べた。グラム陽性菌に対し、ニンニクと白ネギで相乗効果が見られた。共通の酵素による抗菌物質の生成速度の増加が強い作用に繋がったと考えられる。また、ニンニクとショウガで見られた相乗効果では、ショウガの界面活性剤様成分が、ニンニク抗菌物質の膜透過性を高めていると考えられる。このように、薬味野菜を組み合わせることで、抗菌活性を相乗的に増強しうることが明らかになった。