Quantitative determination of infinite inhibition concentrations of antimicrobial agents.

We developed a method to determine the infinite inhibition concentrations (IICs) of antimicrobial agents. This method was based on finding the relative effectiveness of an inhibitor at various concentrations. Benzoic acid and parabens were tested on Saccharomyces bayanus, Hansenula sp., and Pseudomonas fluorescens. The relative effectiveness values of these compounds were established. A plot of the inhibitor concentration versus the reciprocal of relative effectiveness was linear. The chi-axis intercept was the concentration of the inhibitor which gave infinite microbial inhibition. For S. bayanus the IICs were 330, 930, 480, and 220 ppm (330, 930, 480, and 220 ml/liter) for benzoic acid and methyl-, ethyl-, and propylparabens, respectively. For Hansenula sp. the IIC was 180 ppm for benzoic acid. For P. fluorescens the IICs were 1,310, 960, and 670 ppm for methyl-, ethyl-, and propylparabens, respectively. Our results indicated that the IIC is affected by the growth medium. The advantages and applications of this method are discussed.