Effect of garlic, onion and sodium benzoate on the mycoflora of pepper, cinnamon and rosemary in Egypt

Some 44 genera appertaining to 111 species and 2 varieties were recovered from pepper, cinnamon and rosemary on three types of media at 28°C. Despite its narrower spectrum of genera and species, pepper was more contaminated with fungi than cinnamon or rosemary. Aspergillus species were the major contaminants of both pepper and cinnamon while members of Cladosporium and Mycosphaerella of rosemary, Aspergillus flavus, A. flavus var. columnaris and A. niger, were the most prevalent species on the three spices. Also, it could be concluded that mould numbers were higher than 104g−1 in all three spices on all media used and thus they were of unacceptable quality according to the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for foods. Hence, attempts for controlling fungi in spices were made, and showed that sodium benzoate and garlic juice in the isolation medium exerted a significant depressive effect at all or most doses used on glucophilic, osmophilic or osmotolerant and cellulose-decomposing fungi. Several fungi were not significantly affected by onion juice, but on some other species, it had a promoting effect. Therefore, garlic or sodium benzoate could be added to suitable spices at effective levels to prevent mould growth.