| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4364507 | International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation | 2015 | 7 Pages |
•We examined the antifungal and antiaflatoxin activity of natural cinnamaldehyde.•It causes the reducing of AFB1 content in liquid culture.•Antioxidant properties of cinnamaldehyde is the key of antiaflatoxin.•Cinnamaldehyde could destruct AFB1.•Recommendation of cinnamaldehyde as plant based food preservative.
Cinnamaldehyde (CIN), a natural extract from Cinnamomum spp., is commonly used for extending the shelf life of selected foods as preservative. In this study, CIN was applied to investigate its effect on aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) biosynthesis of Aspergillus flavus. To elucidate the mechanism of action, the ability of CIN to inhibit fungal growth as well as spore germination of A. flavus was evaluated in vitro. Moreover, the effects of CIN on pellet size, reactive oxygen species formation and lipid peroxidation involved in AFB1 synthesis were furthermore investigated. The results demonstrated that CIN dose-dependently inhibited AFB1 production, which is consistent with the significant reduction of both reactive oxygen species and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances level after CIN treatment for three days. In addition, optical microscope observation showed that CIN could effectively postpone spore germination of A. flavus which is unfavorable for hyphae elongation and pellet formation. However, the trend of AFB1 reduction in YES broth was not exactly consistent with the growth inhibition of A. flavus strain expressed as mycelia dry weight. When fungus was incubated with high concentration of CIN, the degradation rate of up to 14.8% of AFB1 could be achieved on the 5th day. The present study suggested that CIN suppression of AFB1 contamination is due to pleiotropic effects that control spore germination, oxidative stress alleviation of fungal cells and aflatoxin detoxification. These results further showed that CIN could be an alternative to chemical fungicides to prevent A. flavus and AFB1 contamination during grain storage and in the field.
