Aspergillus flavus as a Model System to Test the Biological Activity of Botanicals: An Example on Citrullus colocynthis L. Schrad. Organic Extracts

Degola, Francesca; Marzouk, Belsem; Gori, Antonella; Brunetti, Cecilia; Dramis, Lucia; Gelati, S.; Buschini, Annamaria; Restivo, Francesco Maria

doi:10.3390/toxins11050286

Cited by 10 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Citrullus colocynthis is a species of the genus Citrullus of the Cucurbitaceae family known as handal in Arabic. It is native to tropical Africa and Asia and largely distributed in the arid regions of the Mediterranean basin [20]. The fruit is rich in biologically active constituents and used in the treatment of different ailments [21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of Seeds and Peels of Citrullus colocynthis as Efficient Natural Adsorbent for Methylene Blue Dye

Alghamdi

Mannoubi

2021

Processes

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Natural adsorbents as low-cost materials have been proved efficient for water remediation and have significant capacity for the removal of certain chemicals from wastewater. The present investigation aimed to use Citrullus colocynthis seeds (CCSs) and peels (CCPs) as an efficient natural adsorbent for methylene blue (MB) dye in an aqueous solution. The examined biosorbents were characterized using surface area analyzer (BET), scanning electron microscope (SEM), thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted to optimize the main factors influencing the biosorption process. The equilibrium data for the adsorption of MB by CCSs were best described by the Langmuir isotherm followed by the Freundlich adsorption isotherms, while the equilibrium data for MB adsorption by CCPs were well fitted by the Langmuir isotherm followed by the Temkin isotherm. Under optimum conditions, the maximum biosorption capacity and removal efficiency were 18.832 mg g−1 and 98.00% for MB-CCSs and 4.480 mg g−1 and 91.43% for MB-CCPs. Kinetic studies revealed that MB adsorption onto CCSs obeys pseudo-first order kinetic model (K1 = 0.0274 min−1), while MB adsorption onto CCPs follows the pseudo-second order kinetic model (K2 = 0.0177 g mg−1 min−1). Thermodynamic studies revealed that the MB biosorption by CCSs was endothermic and a spontaneous process in nature associated with a rise in randomness, but the MB adsorption by CCPs was exothermic and a spontaneous process only at room temperature with a decline in disorder. Based on the obtained results, CCSs and CCPSs can be utilized as efficient, natural biosorbents, and CCSs is promising since it showed the highest removal percentage and adsorption capacity of MB dye.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of Seeds and Peels of Citrullus colocynthis as Efficient Natural Adsorbent for Methylene Blue Dye

Alghamdi

Mannoubi

2021

Processes

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“…In addition, nowadays the EC policy is driving research to investigate more environmentally friendly “green” approaches. This has increased the research on the development of biocontrol strategies as well as the use of natural plant extracts to control and mitigate the presence of mycotoxins in food and feed [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. One of the promising tools for mycotoxin (particularly aflatoxins) control, with lower environmental impact, are the metabolites of higher mushrooms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oligosaccharides Derived from Tramesan: Their Structure and Activity on Mycotoxin Inhibition in Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus carbonarius

et al. 2021

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Food and feed safety are of paramount relevance in everyday life. The awareness that different chemicals, e.g., those largely used in agriculture, could present both environmental problems and health hazards, has led to a large limitation of their use. Chemicals were also the main tool in a control of fungal pathogens and their secondary metabolites, mycotoxins. There is a drive to develop more environmentally friendly, “green”, approaches to control mycotoxin contamination of foodstuffs. Different mushroom metabolites showed the potential to act as control agents against mycotoxin production. The use of a polysaccharide, Tramesan, extracted from the basidiomycete Trametes versicolor, for controlling biosynthesis of aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A, has been previously discussed. In this study, oligosaccharides obtained from Tramesan were evaluated. The purified exopolysaccharide of T. versicolor was partially hydrolyzed and separated by chromatography into fractions from disaccharides to heptasaccharides. Each fraction was individually tested for mycotoxin inhibition in A. flavus and A. carbonarius. Fragments smaller than seven units showed no significant effect on mycotoxin inhibition; heptasaccharides showed inhibitory activity of up to 90% in both fungi. These results indicated that these oligosaccharides could be used as natural alternatives to crop protection chemicals for controlling these two mycotoxins.

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“…e most used plant parts addressed to medicinal purposes are mainly fruits and seeds, even if roots and leaves infuses are used for the treatment of urinary infections [28,29]. However, more recently, organic extracts obtained from leaf, stem, and root material have been successfully applied in vitro against some phytopathogenic fungi, and in particular against A. flavus and aflatoxin biosynthesis, that is relevant to cereal crops production [19]: in this study, an interesting dependence of the biological activity not only on the plant tissue, but also on the organic solvent utilized for the extraction, was showed. Results obtained with the immature seeds extracts are in accordance with the following: in fact, AC extracts did not exert any inhibitory effect on fungal growth, while others showed a variable extent.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Antimycotic properties have been assessed in plant pathogens also (such as Alternaria alternata, Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium oxysporum, and Fusarium solani) that impact the quality and safety of a number of food feed and commodities [17]. Some aqueous and acetone extracts from C. colocynthis plants collected in southern Tunisia (Mednine) showed marked broad-spectrum antiradical properties in vitro antioxidant activity tests [18]; but, interestingly, the scavenging potential as assessed in organic extract from leaves, stems, and roots that proved a high effectiveness in inhibiting aflatoxin biosynthesis in A. flavus was demonstrated to be uncoupled from the antitoxigenic activity that commonly is thought to rely on the unbalancing of secondary metabolism toward a reduced state [19]. e investigation of traditional medicinal plants and the characterization of their potential as a source of natural preservatives agents are the first step for an optimal utilization of plants extracts as nontoxic-to-humans, sustainable food additives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential of Citrullus colocynthis L. Schrad. Immature Seed Extracts as Food Preservative against a Fungal Mycotoxigenic Contaminant

Mussi

Montalbano

Marzouk

et al. 2021

Journal of Food Quality

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The world of plant extracts and natural compounds have long been regarded as a promise land for the individuation of healthy alternatives to chemical preservatives, against microbial contamination, in food and feed commodities. A plethora of aromatic and medicinal plant species have been studied from decades to explore their antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, in order to both validate their ethnobotanical use for healing microbial illnesses and assess their suitability as food preservation agents. In fact, after terrestrialization and during the following evolutionary pathway, plants had to develop chemical compounds—constitutive and/or induced—for defence against specific pathogens, therefore becoming a potential source of new natural products usable with antimicrobial purposes. Aside from the most common contaminants that could occur in foodstuff, mycotoxigenic fungal species represent a big concern, mainly in cereals and derived products: aflatoxins in particular are the most dreaded among such toxic and cancerogenic secondary metabolites, and the control of the main producer Aspergillus flavus is currently one of the most pursued goals in the field of food safety. As aromatic and medicinal plants have a long history of use in the Mediterranean basin for both food preservation and pest control in crops, the exploitation of native species for the control of mycotoxigenic phytopathogens is almost rationale. The present work provides novel insights into the possible use of C. colocynthis seed organic extracts as antimycotoxigenic additives, demonstrating, for some of them, a feasible application as crop and food protectants with specific regard to aflatoxin contamination. Additionally, the evaluation of their cytotoxic potential and nitric oxide production on human cell lines has been reported for the first time.

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Aspergillus flavus as a Model System to Test the Biological Activity of Botanicals: An Example on Citrullus colocynthis L. Schrad. Organic Extracts

Cited by 10 publications

References 55 publications

Investigation of Seeds and Peels of Citrullus colocynthis as Efficient Natural Adsorbent for Methylene Blue Dye

Investigation of Seeds and Peels of Citrullus colocynthis as Efficient Natural Adsorbent for Methylene Blue Dye

Oligosaccharides Derived from Tramesan: Their Structure and Activity on Mycotoxin Inhibition in Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus carbonarius

Potential of Citrullus colocynthis L. Schrad. Immature Seed Extracts as Food Preservative against a Fungal Mycotoxigenic Contaminant

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