Fabrication, Characterization, and Antifungal Assessment of Jasmine Essential Oil-Loaded Chitosan Nanomatrix Against Aspergillus flavus in Food System

Abstract

The present study investigated the antifungal and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) inhibitory efficacy of Jasmine essential oil-loaded in the chitosan nanoparticle (JEO-NP) with probable antifungal and anti-aflatoxin B1 mode of action against Aspergillus flavus. The prepared JEO-NP was characterized through FTIR and XRD. The maximum percent encapsulation efficiency (75.51% w/w) and loading capacity (5.65% w/w) were found at the 1:1 ratio of chitosan: JEO. The results of thermogravimetric analysis exhibited an increase in thermal stability of JEO-NP compared to the free JEO. The antifungal and AFB1 inhibitory concentration of JEO-NP was found to be 2.5 μL/mL against A. flavus, which was lower than free form JEO (3.0 μL/mL). Biochemical and in silico approaches revealed the antifungal mechanisms of action of JEO-NP were related to the inhibition in ergosterol biosynthesis, leakage of vital ions (Ca+2, Mg+2, and K+), impairment in carbon substrate utilization, and functioning of the AFB1 regulatory genes (ver-1 and omt A (in silico)) of A. flavus. JEO-NP exhibited free radical scavenging activity through DPPH assay (IC50 1.31 μL/mL). The in situ results showed that JEO-NP significantly protects the maize seed samples from A. flavus growth, AFB1 contamination and also preserved its nutritional quality. The absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) profiling revealed the JEO major components are non-mutagenic, non-hepatotoxic, non-carcinogenic, non-tumorigenic, biodegradable nature, and predicted toxicity (LD50 mg/kg rat) were ranged 3107.01 to 3960.22 mg/kg. The findings revealed that the nanoencapsulation technique could be used to enhance the antifungal efficacy of plant essential oil in the food system.