Abstract
Fungal toxins can have various adverse health effects, including carcinogenic, teratogenic or hepatotoxic impacts. In addition, fungal alteration has also a negative impact on agricultural plant production. The use of chemical fungicides to control mycotoxin contamination is increasingly controversial and regulated. More environmentally friendly methods are therefore being explored. Essential oils, as compounds extracted from plants, are liquids whose specific aromatic compounds give each essential oil its own unique characteristics. Due to their rich chemical composition, essential oils (EOs) have many interesting properties, including antifungal activities. The objective of the present study was to analyze volatile chemical composition of EOs (Cymbopogon schoenanthus, Cymbopogon nardus and Eucalyptus camaldulensis) by GC/MS and to investigate their effects on the growth, sporulation and mycotoxin production of Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus carbonarius and Fusarium verticillioides (aflatoxin B1, ochratoxin A and fumonisin B1, respectively). In addition, EOs influence on aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and fumonisin B1 (FB1) biosynthesis pathways was explored using real-time qRT-PCR. The results obtained in vitro, by direct contact with the EOs and by diffusion of their volatile compounds, showed that the essential oils had inhibitory effects on the growth and the production of mycotoxins of the 3 fungal strains and modified the expression of some toxin synthesis genes. We conclude that the recorded effects were dependent on the combined effects of the EOs type, the fungal strains and the doses studied.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Algerian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research for the scholarship (007/PG.France). Special thanks to Ilboudo Zakaria which bring us the 3 essential oils used in the different experiments. Thanks to, Christophe Jourdan for his help in the realization of extraction and amplification procedures.
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All authors have read and agree to the published version of the manuscript. AC, AF and CS designed the study. ND performed mycotoxin analysis via HPLC. AS performed essential oils analysis via GC/MS. MM participated in manipulation of qPCR. AC carried out the entire range of manipulations and experimental approaches and analyzed the data. AC, CS, and AF interpreted the data. AC wrote the original draft. AF, CS, PP and SSG carefully supervised and reviewed the paper. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
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Chelaghema, A., Durand, N., Servent, A. et al. Antifungal and antimycotoxic activities of 3 essential oils against 3 mycotoxinogenic fungi. Arch Microbiol 204, 504 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-022-03115-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-022-03115-1