Test the Ability of Some Plant Extracts to Resist Aspergillus flavus and Reduce the Production of Aflatoxin B1

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This study was conducted in the Plant Pathology Laboratory / College of Agriculture / University of Anbar to study and test the effectiveness of plant extracts (turmeric, pomegranate peel, banana peel) in inhibiting the growth of the fungus Aspergillus flavus and test its ability to reduce aflatoxin B1 from liquid media. The plant materials (powders and extracts) were used in three concentrations (0.1, 0.15, 0.2) mg/ml. The results showed that all plant materials were significantly effective in inhibiting the growth of A. flavus and their ability to reduce aflatoxin B1 from liquid media. Turmeric powder showed its superiority in its inhibitory effect on the growth of fungi on PDA culture medium, as it achieved the highest percentage of inhibition at a concentration of 0.2 mg/ml, which amounted to 87.41%. Whereas, banana peel powder gave the lowest inhibition rate at 0.1 mg/ml concentration (64.07%). While the aqueous extract of turmeric achieved inhibition in the growth of the fungus at a concentration of 0.2 mg / ml by 87.41%, outperformed the aqueous extract of pomegranate and banana, where the rates of inhibition reached 86.66% and 82.96%, respectively at the same concentration. In addition, the alcoholic extract of turmeric showed the highest rate of inhibition of fungi growth at a concentration of 0.2 mg/ml, which amounted to 94.07%, followed by the alcoholic extract of banana and pomegranate with a percentage of 93.3% and 88.14%, respectively, at the same concentration. The results of adsorption or binding of aflatoxin B1 from liquid media indicated that pomegranate peel powder at a concentration of 0.15 and 0.2 mg/ml showed a high efficiency in reducing aflatoxin reaching 100% compared to the control treatment (166.66 ppb), which is the same as the result of adding banana peel powder at the same concentration. While turmeric powder showed a lower reduction rate of 93.99%. Also, the results of using aqueous extracts showed the superiority of aqueous extracts of turmeric and pomegranate peels on the reduction of aflatoxin B1 by 93.99% at a concentration of 0.2 mg/ml for both and 84.99% for banana peels. The results of these ratios did not differ in the ability to absorb aflatoxin when using alcoholic extracts of plants at the same concentration.