Evaluation of inhibitory effects of citric and tartaric acids and their combination on the growth of Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida albicans, and Malassezia furfur

Oct 6, 2026

In vitro experiments evaluated how citric acid, tartaric acid, and their combination inhibit growth of clinically relevant pathogenic fungi, including Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes, Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida albicans, and Malassezia furfur. Cultures were prepared in specific media, conidia and cells harvested, counted with a hemacytometer, and tested for antifungal susceptibility using a broth macrodilution approach. Results showed citric acid exerted stronger fungistatic and fungicidal activities than tartaric acid across tested pathogens, with greater effects on filamentous fungi than yeasts. The combined acids resembled citric acid activity, but exceeded tartaric acid alone, supporting further clinical trials.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages3

Reading Time8 min

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Abstract

Introduction

Materials and methods

Test organisms

Fungal cultivation and preparation of inocula

Preparation of citric and tartaric acids

Antifungal assay

Comp Clin Pathol (2011) 20:543–545 DOI 10.1007/s00580-011-1195-6 BRIEF COMMUNICATION Evaluation of inhibitory effects of citric and tartaric acids and their combination on the growth of Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida albicans, and Malassezia furfur Hojjatollah Shokri Received: 25 October 2010 /Accepted: 8 February 2011 /Published online: 22 February 2011 \# Springer-Verlag London Limited 2011 Abstract The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of citric and tartaric acids and their combination on the growth inhibition of some important pathogenic fungi in vitro. Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes, Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Malassezia furfur were cultured into specific media, and subsequently, fungal conidia were harvested from the medium surface and counted by hemacytometer method. The antifungal susceptibility test of citric and tartaric acids and their combination against fungi were assayed by broth macrodilution technique. The results demonstrated that citric acid had more fungistatic and fungicidal activities than those of tartaric acid against all pathogenic fungi tested, and its effect on filamentous fungi was higher than that on the yeasts. Antifungal activity of the acid combination was similar to citric acid but higher than tartaric acid alone. Further research is needed to assess the efficacy of citric and tartaric acids as inhibitors of fungal growth in clinical trials, especially in treatment of patients with fungal infections. Keywords Citric acid. Tartaric acid . Antifungal activity . Filamentous fungi . Yeasts Introduction Microbiological resistance to antifungals, particularly polyenes and azoles, has been increasingly reported. H. Shokri (*) Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Mazandaran, Amol, Iran e-mail: [hojjat_shokri@yahoo.com](hojjat_shokri@yahoo.com) Despite the increase in frequency of resistance, reports of clinical antifungal failures or single stains becoming resistant to antifungal therapies remain distinctly uncommon (Diekema et al. 2003; Frosco and Barret 1998) . On the other hand, the number of serious invasive fungal infections has continued to increase due to the fact that more immunosuppressed patients are at risk for these infections. Fortunately, the antifungal agents against these organisms have also increased with more effective and less toxic alternatives (Coste et al. 2007; Pfaller et al. 2003) . Organic acids are widely used as preservatives in foods and have been used as buffer agents in medical solutions (Mansour et al. 1998; Phillips 1999) . Several studies reported the inhibitory effect of these acids such as saturated fatty acids, formic and propionic acids, lactic acid and medium-chain fatty acids against different microorganisms (Cherrington et al. 1990; Dibner and Buttin 2002; Maroune et al. 2003) . In addition to their suppressing effect on the growth of food spoilage microorganisms, organic acids were shown to possess antibacterial activities against various infectious pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus, Yersinia enterocolitica, Listeria monocytogenes, and Escherichia coli, as well as Clostridium botulinum (Anders et al. 1989; Lee et al. 2002; McWilliam Leitch and Stewart 2002; Qvist et al. 1994) . As far as we know, there is little information about the antifungal activity of organic acids, especially citric and tartaric acids, against clinically important potential pathogens. The main objective of this study was to investigate the antifungal effects of the two abovementioned acids against Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes, Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Malassezia furfur. Materials and methods Test organisms Clinical isolates of T. mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes (isolated from a dog with dermatophytosis), C. albicans (isolated from a patient with cutaneous candidiasis), A. fumigatus (isolated from an ostrich with disse

FAQs

What was the main objective of the study?

To investigate the antifungal effects of citric and tartaric acids, alone and in combination, against several clinically important fungi in vitro.

Which fungi were evaluated for growth inhibition?

Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes, Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Malassezia furfur were tested.

How did citric acid compare with tartaric acid in antifungal activity?

Citric acid showed stronger fungistatic and fungicidal activity than tartaric acid against all tested fungi, with higher impact on filamentous fungi than yeasts.

Oct 6, 2026

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