Sporicidal Activities of Various Surfactant Components against Bacillus subtilis Spores

The sporicidal activities against Bacillus subtilis spores of surfactant components with hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties that can lead to the denaturation of various proteins comprising the spore structure were investigated. The reduction in spore numbers by each of the surfactant components bornyl acetate, geranyl acetate, pinene, p-cymene, camphene, citral, 2,3-dihydrobenzofuran, polylysine, and thiamine dilaurylsulfate at 1% was estimated at 1 to 2 log CFU/ml. The average hydrophile-lipophile balance value of surfactants with sporicidal activity causing a reduction of 1 to 2 log CFU/ml was 9.3, with a range from 6.7 to 15.8, which is similar to the values of various chemical surfactants of 9.6 to 16.7. The results also showed that the surfactants that were hydrophobic were more effective than those that were hydrophilic in killing B. subtilis spores. Furthermore, the sporicidal effect of surfactants like geranyl acetate and gamma-terpinene was significantly enhanced in the presence of a germinant, because L-alanine and synergistic cofactors (e.g., K+ ions) trigger cortex hydrolysis in spores.