Abstract
Fusarium graminearum is a fungal pathogen that can colonize small-grain cereals and maize and secrete type B trichothecene (TCTB) mycotoxins. The development of environmental-friendly strategies guaranteeing the safety of food and feed is a key challenge facing agriculture today. One of these strategies lies on the promising capacity of products issued from natural sources to counteract crop pests. In this work, the in vitro efficiency of sixteen extracts obtained from eight natural sources using subcritical water extraction at two temperatures was assessed against fungal growth and TCTB production by F. graminearum. Maritime pine sawdust extract was shown to be extremely efficient, leading to a significant inhibition of up to 89% of the fungal growth and up to 65% reduction of the mycotoxin production by F. graminearum. Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis of this active extract revealed the presence of three families of phenolics with a predominance of methylated compounds and suggested that the abundance of methylated structures, and therefore of hydrophobic compounds, could be a primary factor underpinning the activity of the maritime pine sawdust extract. Altogether, our data support that wood/forest by-products could be promising sources of bioactive compounds for controlling F. graminearum and its production of mycotoxins.
Highlights
The aim of this study was to characterize natural extracts obtained from wood/forest and vine by-products using an environment-friendly extraction procedure for their capacity to reduce F. graminearum growth and TCTB accumulation, and to provide first insights regarding the compounds involved in their bioactivity
Concerning total phenolic composition, values associated with maritime pine barks were higher than the results previously reported for barks, between 22 and 62 mg g−1 depending on the extraction method [20]
Results of fungal growth and TCTB production were reported as mean values ± standard deviation of three or four biological replications depending of the experimentation
Summary
Fusarium graminearum was recently ranked as the fourth most important fungal plant pathogen regarding scientific and economic criteria [1]. This fungus infests cereal crops and can produce type B trichothecenes (TCTB) mycotoxins that are of major concern due to their toxicity to animals and humans [2]. DON is the most commonly found TCTB on crops. DON is regulated in many countries worldwide, with a strict limitation set at 1750 μg kg−1 for unprocessed maize, durum wheat and oats in the European Union (European Commission in the Commission Regulation No 1126/2007), at 2000 μg kg−1 for unprocessed wheat in Canada and at 1000 μg kg−1 for cereals in China, for example [3]
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