In vitro antifungal effect of potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate on the growth of fungi causing sinusitis

The study involved 70 nasal swab collected from people suffering from sinusitis and consulted the Ear, Nose and Throat Unit in Al-Diwaniya Teaching Hospital, Iraq during the period from 12 June to 12 August 2016 with ages ranging from 0-65 years old. The results showed that the number of nasal swabs that gave fungal growth was 36/70 (51.428%); highest percentage of fungal infection was recorded in ages ranging from 11-20 years old 8(80%), followed by above 60 years old 7(70%) and lowest infection was in 51-60 years old 3(30%) when compared. A total of 43 fungal isolates were identified and the isolates belong to 7 genera comprising of Penicillium  spp. with 16 isolates, Aspergillus  spp. with 14 isolates (mainly A. niger= 7, A. flavus= 5 and A. fumigates= 2), Cladosporium  spp. with 4 isolates, Rhizopus  spp. 3 isolates, Sporothrix  schenckii 3 isolates, Mucor  spp. 2 isolates and Fusarium  spp. 1 isolate. Penicillium  spp. occurred with the highest frequency percentage of (37.209%), followed by A. niger (16.279%) and A. flavus (11.627%) with significant differences when compared with other fungi isolated in this study while the lowest percentage frequency was recorded for Fusarium spp. (2.325%). Potassium sorbate and Sodium benzoate have high inhibitory activity against the growth of all fungi studied and increases in their concentration caused corresponding increases in their percentage inhibition of fungal growth which ranged at concentration 1000 mg/L of potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate between (90.7-94.5%) and (91.2-95.8%) respectively. Key words: Antifungal, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, sinusitis.