Plant Bioactive Compounds in Pre- and Postharvest Management for Aflatoxins Reduction

Abstract

Aflatoxins (AFs) are secondary metabolites produced by Aspergillus spp., known for their hepatotoxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic activity in humans and animals. AF contamination of staple food commodities is a global concern due to their toxicity and the economic losses they cause. Different strategies have been applied to reduce fungal contamination and AF production. Among them, the use of natural, plant-derived compounds is emerging as a promising strategy to be applied to control both Aspergillus spoilage and AF contamination in food and feed commodities in an integrated pre-and postharvest management. In particular, phenols, aldehydes, and terpenes extracted from medicinal plants, spices, or fruits have been studied in depth. They can be easily extracted, they are generally recognized as safe (GRAS), and they are foodgrade and act through a wide variety of mechanisms. This review investigated the main compounds with antifungal and anti-aflatoxigenic activity, also elucidating their physiological role and the different modes of action and synergies. Plant bioactive compounds are shown to be effective in modulating Aspergillus spp. contamination and AF production both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, their application in pre-and postharvest management could represent an important tool to control aflatoxigenic fungi and to reduce AF contamination.

A Novel and Potentially Multifaceted Dehydroascorbate Reductase Increasing the Antioxidant Systems is Induced by Beauvericin in Tomato

“…Antioxidant compounds possess a wide range of health benefits [17], and plants are the most important source of many of them, such as ASC [18], polyphenols [19], tocopherols, carotenoids, xanthophylls [20], and many others [21]. They are critical to counteract the ROS, which are physiologically generated in plant metabolism and extensively produced in response to biotic or abiotic stress.…”

The use of plant extracts and their phytochemicals for control of toxigenic fungi and mycotoxins

“…There are various major groups of phytochemical compounds discovered to date and differ according to their chemical structures ( Das et al, 2020 ). These major groups include phenolic compounds, flavonoids, phytosterols, carotenoids, tocols, terpenoids, alkaloids, saponins, tannins, aromatic acids, glucosinolates, carotenoids, essential oils, chlorophyll and organic acids as well as proteases inhibitors ( Bhattachar, 2011 ; Adebo and Gabriela Medina-Meza, 2020 ; Loi et al., 2020 ). Such compounds may act directly or indirectly to protect against ailments or pathogens, because they contain antimutagenic, antigenotoxic, antimicrobial, anthelmintic, anticarcinogenic, antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory as well as antioxidant properties ( Galvano et al., 2001 ; Makhafola et al., 2017 ; Velu et al., 2018 ; Lahlou et al., 2019 ).…”

“…Antioxidants protect the cell membranes and macromolecules by scavenging free radicals ( Wu et al., 2017a ). Furthermore, phytochemicals induce cytotoxicity in fungi by disrupting cell membrane permeability and functions; inhibiting cytoplasmic and mitochondrial enzymes; inhibiting enzymes involved in cell wall components synthesis; and altering the cell compartment, osmotic and the redox balance ( Loi et al., 2020 ). However, plant extracts and their compounds also act by inducing xenobiotic detoxification and biotransformation pathways ( Gross-Steinmeyer and Eaton, 2012 ; Wu et al., 2017b ).…”

“…However, the use of phytochemical compounds alone limits their full applications. This limitation is due to their instability, insolubility, high volatility, low bioavailability, ability to change organoleptic characteristics of food/feed, and limited of facilities and resources for their extraction and purification ( Sajid et al., 2019 ; Adebo et al., 2020 ; Loi et al., 2020 ). To overcome these factors, cohesive research collaborations between academics, research institutions, government agencies, food and pharmacological industries, as well as international stakeholders are required.…”

“…In addition, different emerging technologies such as nanotechnology can, in part, provide solutions to encounter some of these limitations ( Prakash et al., 2020 ; Thipe et al., 2020 ). Phytochemical compounds can be encapsulated in edible coatings or with nanoparticles such as nanosponges to elicit the factors listed herein ( Alotaibi et al., 2019 ; Loi et al., 2020 ; Thipe et al., 2020 ). The subsequent section gives brief information on nanocarriers and their encapsulated bioactive compounds for use as antifungal and mycotoxin detoxification agents.…”