Use of Selected Essential Oils to Control Aflatoxin Contaminated Stored Cashew and Detection of Aflatoxin Biosynthesis Gene

Abstract

Aspergillus spp. associated with cashew from the regions of Riyadh, Dammam, and Abha were isolated and three different culture media were used to qualitatively measure aflatoxin production by Aspergillus via UV light (365 nm), which was expressed as positive or negative. The obtained data showed that six isolates of A. flavus and four isolates of A. parasiticus were positive for aflatoxin production, while all isolates of A. niger were negative. Five commercially essential oils (thyme, garlic, cinnamon, mint, and rosemary) were tested to determine their influence on growth and aflatoxin production in A. flavus and A. parasiticus by performing high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results showed that the tested essential oils caused highly significant inhibition of fungal growth and aflatoxin production in A. flavus and A. parasiticus. The extent of the inhibition of fungal growth and aflatoxin production was dependent on the type and concentration of essential oils applied. The results indicate that cinnamon and thyme oils show strong antimicrobial potential. PCR was used with four sets of primer pairs for nor-1, omt-1, ver-1, and aflR genes, enclosed in the aflatoxin biosynthetic pathway. The interpretation of the results revealed that PCR is a rapid and sensitive method.

Biocontrol of toxigenic Aspergillus strains isolated from baby foods by essential oils

“…Zohri et al reported that black pepper, cinnamon, spearmint, cumin, thyme and anise completely inhibited mycotoxin production at a concentration of 1%. Abd El‐Aziz et al found that the 5 tested essential oils (thyme, garlic, cinnamon, mint and rosemary) showed inhibitory effect on the growth and secretion of aflatoxins by A. flavus and A. parasiticus using (HPLC) and the percentage of inhibition increased with increasing the concentration. Razzaghi‐Abyaneh et al reported that the oil extract from Carum carvi L. inhibited only aflatoxin production, with no effect on Aspergillus parasiticus growth.…”

Inhibiting Aspergillus flavus Growth and Aflatoxin Decrement in Aquatic Feed with Satureja hortensis Essential Oil Read more at http://nexusacademicpublishers.com/table_contents_detail/13/784/html#dbMQqpUSSIusS4FW.99

“…There is an upstanding relationship between the inhibitory effect of the essential oils and their doses (AbdEl- Aziz et al, 2015, Al-Gahtani et al, 2013Rasooli et al, 2008). The results indicate that the test toxigenic fungus is sensitive to the savory essential oil and particularly sensitive to doses upper than 500 ppm.…”

“…The mobile phase consists of methanol:acetic acid:water (20:20:60 v/v/v). The total run time for the separation was approximately 25 min at a flow rate of 1 ml/min (Christian, 1990;Abd-El-Aziz et al, 2015).…”

Prevention by Essential Oils of the Occurrence and Growth of Aspergillus flavus and Aflatoxin B1 Production in Food Systems: Review

“…In view of their different biological properties, EOs have been tested as alternative strategy for combating mycotoxins, especially aflatoxins [29][30][31][32][33][34] (Table 1). EOs are molecules of natural origin, biodegradable, and are therefore considered as a possible alternative to synthetic pesticides [35].…”