Inhibitory Effects of Litsea cubeba Oil and Its Active Components on Aspergillus flavus

Shiqi Xia,Peilin Zhu,Peiling Wang,Shengliang Liao,Shangxing Chen,Zongde Wang,Guorong Fan,Hong Lin,Kannan R R Rengasamy

doi:10.1155/2020/8843251

Abstract

Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus) is a frequent harmful fungal pathogen. It can infect traditional Chinese medicine materials and release aflatoxin, to cause both economic and human health effects. By comparing the inhibitory potential of Litsea cubeba oil and its active components to A. flavus CGMCC 3.4408, citral was confirmed to be the main component that inhibits the growth of A. flavus CGMCC 3.4408, and the EC50 was 163.65 mg L−1. The inhibitory effect of citral on A. flavus CGMCC 3.4408 was studied for colony growth rate, mycelium biomass, aflatoxin production, and microstructure. Citral slowed down the growth rate of colonies and reduced mycelium biomass and toxin production. Moreover, citral altered the morphology of fungal spores and mycelium. In addition, citral also has the inhibitory effects on the isolates of A. flavus from moldy traditional Chinese medicinal materials. Thus, citral can be used as a potential agent to check the growth of A. flavus or related fungal strains.

Highlights

Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus or mildew) is a pathogenic fungus that exists widely in nature and its metabolite aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is highly carcinogenic [1]
A. flavus CGMCC 3.4408 was bought from China Center of Industrial Culture Collection. e strain was scratched on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium and cultured at 26°C for a period of time
The sensitivity of Litsea cubeba oil, citral, and citronellal was the same. e qualitative test showed that Litsea cubeba oil and its active components had inhibitory effect on A. flavus, but the inhibitory effect was different

Summary

Introduction

Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus or mildew) is a pathogenic fungus that exists widely in nature and its metabolite aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is highly carcinogenic [1]. A. flavus infects huge number of important agricultural products, medicinal materials, and much more to count [2]. In China, traditional Chinese medicine prevails to large extent; the production and use of medicinal materials are quite frequent [3]. Some Chinese medicinal materials are easy to breed mildew due to poor storage environment and their own matrix conditions [4]. A. flavus is the dominant fungus that causes mildew of medicinal materials [5]. Moldy medicinal materials cause great economic losses, and have plenty of food safety risks. Erefore, it is a dire need to identify certain novel ways to inhibit the growth of A. flavus in particular, which infects Chinese medicinal materials Moldy medicinal materials cause great economic losses, and have plenty of food safety risks. erefore, it is a dire need to identify certain novel ways to inhibit the growth of A. flavus in particular, which infects Chinese medicinal materials

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Discussion

Conclusion