Abstract
The objective was to screen 10 snake venoms for their efficacy to control growth and mycotoxin production by important mycotoxigenic fungi including Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus westerdijkiae, Penicillium verrucosum, Fusarium graminearum and F. langsethiae. The Bioscreen C rapid assay system was used. The venoms from the Viperidae snake family delayed growth of some of the test fungi, especially F. graminearum and F. langsethiae and sometimes A. flavus. Some were also able to reduce mycotoxin production. The two most potent crude snake venoms (Naja nigricollis and N. siamensis; 41 and 43 fractions, respectively) were further fractionated and 83/84 of these fractions were able to reduce mycotoxin production by >90% in two of the mycotoxigenic fungi examined. This study suggests that there may be significant potential for the identification of novel fungistatic/fungicidal bioactive compounds as preservatives of raw and processed food commodities post-harvest from such snake venoms.
Highlights
There is a worldwide trend to reduce the number of antifungal chemical compounds which can be used for crop protection uses because of their health and environmental impacts (EPA 2020; European commission 2020)
The aim of this study was to assess the potential of 10 crude snake venoms to control (i) fungal growth and (ii) the mycotoxin production by five major mycotoxigenic fungal species including Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus westerdijkiae and Penicillium verrucosum, Fusarium graminearum and F. langsethiae (T-2), using the highthroughput screening technique for filamentous fungi using the BioScreen C (Medina et al 2012)
This shows that the effect against different mycotoxigenic fungi varies
Summary
There is a worldwide trend to reduce the number of antifungal chemical compounds which can be used for crop protection uses because of their health and environmental impacts (EPA 2020; European commission 2020). The key contaminating toxigenic fungal pathogens predominantly come from the Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium genera. They are important as they produce mycotoxins including aflatoxins, trichothecenes and ochratoxin A. The presence of these compounds in food products is strictly regulated worldwide (European Union 2006; Wu and Khlangwiset 2010). There have been few new lead compounds which have been found for use in food and feed chains to reduce mould growth and mycotoxin contamination, without impacting on the organoleptic properties of the final product
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