Wood garlic antimicrobial activity

A tree, Scorodocarpus borneensis, native to Borneo and the Malay peninsula, has a garlic-like smell and is known as wood garlic . The fruit is used locally for seasoning. The major volatile flavor compounds from wood garlic are similar to those of garlic itself. Some of these materials are polysulfur compounds and have antimicrobial activity against some bacteria and fungi. These materials contain four sulfur atoms.75 They are either 2,4,6-trithiaheptane-5-thione-2,2-dioxide (CH3-SO2-CH2-S-CS-S-CH3) or derivatives of tetrathia-octane (CH3-S-CH2-S-S-CH2-S-CH 3, CH3-SO2-CH2-S-S-CH2-S-CH3, CH3-S-CH2-SO2-S-CH2-S-CH3). 

Isolation of the Antimicrobial Compounds. Grated fruit pulp was soaked overnight in ethanol and then treated by sonicating for 30 min to extract the active components. The ethyl acetate-soluble fraction of the concentrate of the ethanol extract, which exhibited strong activity, was submitted to silica gel chromatography. Two active compounds were isolated with the yields shown in Table IV. One was CH3SCH2SSCH2SCH3, which was also identified as one of the potent odor components of wood garlic as already described. The other compound was obtained as crystals and then recrystallized with ethyl ether to afford colorless needles. This... 

Table V. Antimicrobial Activity of the Polysulfldes Isolated from Wood Garlic...

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