“This is the first step towards developing or reflecting on new intervention strategies,” said Michael Kokel, co-author of research on Campylobacter jejuni for 25 years.
“Campylobacter is one of the most common bacterial causes of foodborne illness in the United States and probably worldwide,” Konkel said. Some 2.4 million Americans are infected each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with symptoms including diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fever.
Bacteria are also responsible in almost a third of cases for triggering a rare paralyzing disease known as Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Diallyl disulfide is an organosulfur compound derived from garlic and some other plants in the Allium family . It is produced during the decomposition of allicin released when garlic is crushed.
Lu and his colleagues observed the ability of diallyl disulfide to kill bacteria when they are protected by a viscous biofilm (secreted by the bacteria), which makes them 1,000 times more resistant to antibiotics than free-floating bacterial cells. They discovered that the compound can easily penetrate the protective biofilm and kill bacterial cells by combining with a sulfur-containing enzyme, thereby changing the enzyme’s function and effectively blocking the cell’s metabolism.
Researchers have discovered that diallyl disulfide is also 100 times more effective than the antibiotics called erythromycin and ciprofloxacin and that it often acts in record time.
Two previous works published last year by Lu and his colleagues at the university in Environmental and Applied Microbiology and in Analytical Chemistry showed that diallyl disulfide and other organosulfur compounds effectively killed foodborne pathogens such as Listeria Monocytogenes and Escherichia Coli O157:H7.
“Diallyl disulfide can be useful for reducing Campylobacter levels in the environment and for cleaning industrial food processing equipment, as the bacteria are found in biofilm in both cases,” Konkel said.
“Diallyl disulfide could make many foods less dangerous,” said Barbara Rasco, co-author of the three latest articles and Lu’s advisor for her PhD in food science. “It can be used to clean food preparation surfaces and as a preservative in packaged foods such as pasta and potato salads, coleslaw, and deli meats.”
“This would not only extend the shelf life but would also reduce the growth of potentially harmful bacteria,” she said.
The natural substance can also be obtained without the artificial introduction of dangerous chemicals that would disrupt its disease-reducing capabilities.
Ironically, many researchers believe that antibiotics may be one of several factors that contribute to obstructing the bowels of young children.
