Summary Saturated and unsaturated fatty acids and 10 unsaturated fatty acid fractions and ethyl esters of unsaturated fatty acid fractions prepared from fish oils were tested on their inhibitory activity againstCandida albicans. Oxidation of highly unsaturated fractions from fish oil and ethyl esters of unsaturated fatty acid fractions of menhaden, pilchard, and cod liver oils increases their antifungal activity. Saturated and unsaturated quaternaries were tested for their antifungal activity. Hexadecyltriethylammonium bromide and hexadecylpyridinium bromide showed the highest activity againstCandida albicans, Aspergillus niger, andRhyzopus nigricans. Any lengthening of the carbon chain more than C16 weakened the activity of both saturated triethylammonium bromide and pyridinium bromide. An increase of unsaturation enhanced it. The antifungal activity of quaternaries prepared from fish oils was about 4,000 times stronger than that of oxidized highly unsaturated fatty acid fractions prepared from fish oils. The decisive factor in the highly inhibitory activity of quaternaries against fungi might depend on their positively charged portion since the surface of microorganisms is, as a rule, negatively charged.
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Sokoloff et al. (1959) studied this question.