Shelf life improvement of the loaf bread using allyl, phenyl and benzyl isothiocyanates against Aspergillus parasiticus

•Antifungal activity of AITC, BITC and PITC against Aspergillus parasiticus in liquid medium.•Estimation of the shelf life of breads treated with active packaging of AITC, BITC and PITC.•AFs reduction in bread inoculated with A. parasiticus CECT 2681 packaged with AITC, BITC and PITC.

Fungal growth inhibition and aflatoxins (AFs) reduction using allyl (AITC), benzyl (BITC) and phenyl (PITC) isothiocyanates were studied in loaf bread contaminated with Aspergillus parasiticus. Two inoculated loaf bread slices were introduced into a plastic tray together with paper filters or small plastic bags paper filters soaked with AITC, BITC or PITC, the final concentration inside the package was of 0.5, 1 or 5 μL/L. The plastic trays, incubated at room temperature, were visual examined for the shelf life evaluation during 8 days. The quantification of the AFs was carried out using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Shelf life increase of three and four days was obtained with small plastic bag paper filter and paper filter soaked with AITC 5 μL/L, respectively. These treatments also showed the highest reductions of AFs. All treatments with small plastic bag paper filter significantly reduced the content of AFs at percentages above 60% except the reduction of AFB1 in the samples treated with BITC 0.5 μL/L and PITC 1 μL/L. The AFs reduction observed in the packaging with paper filter were above 60% only using AITC at the concentrations of 1 and 5 μL/L.