Role of ozone in UV-C disinfection, demonstrated by comparison between wild-type and mutant conidia of Aspergillus niger

This study aimed to investigate the tolerance of a melanized wild-type strain of Aspergillus niger (CON1) and its light-colored mutant (MUT1) to UV-C light and the concomitantly generated ozone. Treatments were segregated into four groups based on whether UV irradiation was used and the presence or absence of ozone: (-UV, -O3), (-UV, +O3), (+UV, -O3) and (+UV, +O3). The survival of CON1 and MUT1 conidia under +UV decreased as the exposure time increased, with CON1 showing greater resistance to UV irradiation than MUT1. Ozone induced CON1 conidium inactivation only under conditions of UV radiation exposure. While, the inactivation effect of ozone on MUT1 was always detectable regardless of the presence of UV irradiation. Furthermore, the CON1 conidial suspension showed lower UV light transmission than MUT1 when examined at the same concentration. Compared with the pigment in MUT1, the melanin in CON1 exhibited more potent radical-scavenging activity and stronger UV absorbance. These results suggested that melanin protected A. niger against UV disinfection via UV screening and free radical scavenging. The process by which UV-C disinfection induces a continual decrease in conidial survival suggests that UV irradiation and ozone exert a synergistic fungicidal effect on A. niger prior to reaching a plateau.