Antimicrobial Activities of Ellagitannins against Clostridiales perfringens, Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus plantarum and Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract

In this study, we tested the growth inhibition effect of 22 individual ellagitannins and of pentagalloylglucose on four bacterial species, i.e.,Clostridiales perfringens, Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus plantarumandStaphylococcus aureus. All tested compounds showed antimicrobial effects againstS. aureus, and almost all againstE. coliandC. perfringens. ForL. plantarum, no or very weak growth inhibition was detected. The level of inhibition was the greatest forS. aureusand the weakest forC. perfringens. ForS. aureus, the molecular size or flexibility of ellagitannins did not show a clear relationship with their antimicrobial activity, even though rugosins E and D and pentagalloylglucose with four or five free galloyl groups had a stronger growth inhibition effect than the other ellagitannins with glucopyranose cores but with less free galloyl groups. Additionally, our results withS. aureusshowed that the oligomeric linkage of ellagitannin might have an effect on its antimicrobial activity. ForE. coli, the molecular size, but not the molecular flexibility, of ellagitannins seemed to be an important factor. ForC. perfringens, both the molecular size and the flexibility of ellagitannin were important factors. In previous studies, corilagin was used as a model for ellagitannins, but our results showed that other ellagitannins are much more efficacious; therefore, the antimicrobial effects of ellagitannins could be more significant than previously thought.