Abstract
Aspergillus carbonarius is a saprobic filamentous fungus, food spoiling fungus and a producer of ochratoxin A (OTA) mycotoxin. In this study, the in vitro antifungal activity of neem oil (0.12% p/p of azadirachtin) was evaluated against the growth of six strains of A. carbonarius and the production of OTA. Four different concentrations of neem oil were tested in addition to three incubation times. Only the concentration of 0.3% of neem oil inhibited more than 95% of the strain’s growth (97.6% ± 0.5%), while the use of 0.5% and 1.0% of neem oil showed lower antifungal activity, 40.2% ± 3.1 and 64.7% ± 1.1, respectively. There was a complete inhibition of OTA production with 0.1% and 0.3% neem oil in the four strains isolated in the laboratory from grapes. The present study shows that neem essential oil can be further evaluated as an auxiliary method for the reduction of mycelial growth and OTA production.
Highlights
Members of the Aspergillus spp., among many other toxigenic fungi, have been found to have a strong ecological link with human food supplies [1]
Among the four concentrations of neem oil screened, 0.1% and 0.3% inhibited more than 82%
Studied the effect of some chemical and herbal compounds on the growth of other toxicogenic specie, Aspergillus parasiticus, and it was observed that neem oil at 0.5% had moderate anti-fungal activity (84% reduction vs. control), and at 0.2% and 0.1% a low antifungal activity, 52% and 36%, Figure 1. (a) cubic polynomialoffitting curve for percentage of growth inhibition of A. carbonarius respectively
Summary
Members of the Aspergillus spp., among many other toxigenic fungi, have been found to have a strong ecological link with human food supplies [1]. Aspergillus classified into the section Nigri [2], have been isolated from a wide variety of food and are distributed worldwide (animal feed, cereals, cocoa, coffee, dried fruits, fruits, garlic, olives, onions) and are considered as common fungi causing food spoilage and biodeterioration of other materials [3,4]. They are important producers of ochratoxin A (OTA), the main species involved in OTA biosynthesis is Aspergillus carbonarius, commonly isolated from tropical regions as a contaminant of vineyards [5]. OTA is classified as Group 2B, possibly carcinogenic to humans, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer [8]
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