Antifungal and Antiaflatoxigenic Activities of Different Plant Extracts against Aspergillus flavus

Said I. Behiry (), Najwa A. Hamad, Fatimah O. Alotibi, Abdulaziz A. Al-Askar, Amr A. Arishi, Ahmed M. Kenawy, Ibrahim A. Elsamra, Nesrine H. Youssef, Mohsen Mohamed Elsharkawy, Ahmed Abdelkhalek () and Ahmed A. Heflish
Additional contact information
Said I. Behiry: Agricultural Botany Department, Faculty of Agriculture (Saba Basha), Alexandria University, Alexandria 21531, Egypt
Najwa A. Hamad: Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Omar Al-Mukhtar University, Al Bayda 00218-84, Libya
Fatimah O. Alotibi: Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Abdulaziz A. Al-Askar: Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Amr A. Arishi: School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth 6009, Australia
Ahmed M. Kenawy: Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications, New Borg El Arab City 21934, Egypt
Ibrahim A. Elsamra: Agricultural Botany Department, Faculty of Agriculture (Saba Basha), Alexandria University, Alexandria 21531, Egypt
Nesrine H. Youssef: Microbiology and Mycotoxins Labs, Regional Center for Foods and Feeds, Agricultural Researches Center, Alexandria 12619, Egypt
Mohsen Mohamed Elsharkawy: Department of Agricultural Botany, Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafr El-Sheikh 33516, Egypt
Ahmed Abdelkhalek: Plant Protection and Biomolecular Diagnosis Department, ALCRI, City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications, New Borg El Arab City 21934, Egypt
Ahmed A. Heflish: Agricultural Botany Department, Faculty of Agriculture (Saba Basha), Alexandria University, Alexandria 21531, Egypt

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 19, 1-13

Abstract: In the current study, four organic solvents, including ethanol, methanol, acetone, and diethyl ether, were used to extract turmeric, wheat bran, and taro peel. The efficiency of three different concentrations of each solvent was assessed for their antifungal and anti-mycotoxin production against Aspergillus flavus . The results indicated that 75% ethanolic and 25% methanolic extracts of taro peels and turmeric were active against fungus growth, which showed the smallest fungal dry weight ratios of 1.61 and 2.82, respectively. Furthermore, the 25% ethanolic extract of turmeric showed the best result (90.78%) in inhibiting aflatoxin B 1 production. After 30 days of grain storage, aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ) production was effectively inhibited, and the average inhibition ratio ranged between 4.46% and 69.01%. Simultaneously, the Topsin fungicide resulted in an inhibition ratio of 143.92%. Taro extract (25% acetone) produced the highest total phenolic content (61.28 mg GAE/g dry extract wt.) and showed an antioxidant capacity of 7.45 μg/mL, followed by turmeric 25% ethanol (49.82 mg GAE/g), which revealed the highest antioxidant capacity (74.16 μg/mL). RT-qPCR analysis indicated that the expression of afl D, afl P, and afl Q (structural genes) and afl R and afl S (regulatory genes) was down-regulated significantly compared to both untreated and Topsin-treated maize grains. Finally, the results showed that all three plant extracts could be used as promising source materials for potential products to control aflatoxin formation, thus creating a safer method for grain storage in the environment than the currently used protective method.

Keywords: plant extracts; antioxidant; Aspergillus flavus; aflatoxin B 1; maize storage; gene expression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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