Biological Activities of Black Garlic Fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum PN05 and Some Kinds of Black Garlic Presenting Inside Vietnam

Background: Black garlic has become more popular in Vietnam due to its interesting biological activities. Purpose: The quality of different black garlic preparations should be checked. Methods: 1010 colony forming units (CFUs) of Lactobacillus plantarum PN05 were mixed with 1 kg fresh garlic and then let turn into black garlic. The aqueous extract of this preparation and other black garlic products marketed in Vietnam were evaluated on antimicrobial, anticancer cell line activities and toxicity by using well agar diffusion, sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay and tissue observation respectively. Results: The tested black garlic extracts showed significant differences in the antimicrobial activities against Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes. Moreover, different kinds of black garlic extracts showed different effects against human liver cancer cell line (HepG2). Surprisingly, higher amount of black garlic extracts showed the lower anti-HepG2 activity in some samples except extract of black garlic fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum PN05. However, mice used black garlic extracts could give the spleen to be larger significantly than control mice. Conclusion: The study warned human to be careful when using black garlic without any check.