Effect of structural variation of medium chain fatty acids on antibacterial activities against pathogenic bacteria

Broad range of fatty acids were reported to show antimicrobial activities against broad range of microorganisms.However, possible changes of the antibacterial activity of a fatty acid based on structural variations are largely unknown.This study was focused on determination and comparison of the antimicrobial activities of the medium chain fatty acids, based on the position of carboxyl groups on either terminal end, against the representative food-pathogenic bacteria.Over all, mono-carboxyl medium chain fatty acids (MC-MCFA) presented stronger antimicrobial activities against the food-pathogenic bacteria tested including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) than di-carboxyl medium chain fatty acid (DC-MCFA).In addition, some of MC-MCFA and DC-MCFA showed high possibility to be used as a synergistic adjuvant for both the commercial -lactam family antibiotics and aminoglycoside family antibiotics against MRSA.