Efficiency of Hydroxycinnamic Phenolic Acids to Inhibit the Production of Ochratoxin A by Aspergillus westerdijkiae and Penicillium verrucosum.

Saranyaphat Boonmee,Florence Richard-Forget,Gisèle Marchegay,Kevin D Hyde,Vessela Atanasova,Sylvain Chéreau

doi:10.3390/ijms21228548

Abstract

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is one of the worldwide most important mycotoxins in terms of health and agroeconomic consequences. With the aim to promote the use of phytochemicals as alternatives to synthetic fungicides, the effect of hydroxycinnamic acids on the fungal growth and OTA yield by two major OTA-producing species was investigated. After a first step dedicated to the definition of most suitable culture conditions, the impact of 0.5 mM ferulic (FER), p-coumaric (COUM), caffeic and chlorogenic acids was evaluated on Aspergillus westerdijkiae and Penicillium verrucosum. Whereas no fungal growth reduction was observed regardless of the phenolic acid and fungal isolate, our results demonstrated the capacity of FER and COUM to inhibit OTA production. The most efficient compound was FER that led to a 70% reduction of OTA yielded by P. verrucosum and, although not statistically significant, a 35% inhibition of OTA produced by A. westerdijkiae. To further investigate the bioactivity of FER and COUM, their metabolic fate was characterized in fungal broths. The capacity of P. verrucosum to metabolize FER and COUM through a C2-clivage type degradation was demonstrated. Overall, our data support the potential use of FER to prevent OTA contamination and reduce the use of synthetic pesticides.

Highlights

Contamination of food and feeds with mycotoxins is a global issue
The lowest biomass yield was obtained in static Czapek Yeast Autolysate medium (CYA) for both A. westerdijkiae and P. verrucosum strains whereas the maximal biomass was yielded in agitated Yeast Extract Sucrose_A (YES_A) and YES_B media with 1484.33 and 1057.87 mg for A. westerdijkiae, and 1135.37 and 880.77 mg for P. verrucosum, respectively (Table 1)
With the exception of few studies focusing on A. carbonarius and A. ochraceus [19,27], the capacity of phenolic acids to modulate the production of ochratoxin A (OTA) has been little explored

Summary

Introduction

According to a commonly cited estimate ascribed to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 25% of the world s crops could be contaminated with mycotoxins above the regulatory limits, leading to annual losses close to 1 billion metric tons [1]. This prevalence was recently confirmed by Eskola et al [2] who reported that 60–80% of agricultural commodities contain mycotoxins above detectable levels. P. verrucosum that is capable of growth at low temperature (optimum 20 ◦C) is the major species responsible for the occurrence of OTA in European cereals and cereal-based products. The consumption of cereal-derived products represents the main source of exposure to OTA for European citizens [5]

Methods

Results

Conclusion