Naturally occurring phenols: a detoxification strategy for fumonisin B₁

Abstract

Phenolic compounds from plants offer a means for both the prevention and detoxification of mycotoxins that affect human health. This research investigates the control of fungal growth and toxin production by Fusarium verticillioides with plant phenolic compounds, namely chlorophorin, iroko and maakianin, benzoic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, and vanillic acid. Inhibition by these compounds of fungal growth was determined by the agar overlay method and their effect on fumonisin B(1) (FB(1)) production was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Chlorophorin was the most effective compound in inhibiting fungal growth, followed by iroko, maakianin, vanillic acid and caffeic acid. Chlorophorin also was the most effective compound in reducing toxin production (94% reduction), followed by caffeic acid, ferulic acid, vanillic acid and iroko, which reduced FB(1) levels by 90-91%. The widespread occurrence of fumonisins world-wide and the lack of adequate prevention of fumonisins require 'biologically safe' alternatives to prevent the transfer of fungi and their health hazardous toxins into our daily foods and environment.

Study of metabolite profiles in winter wheat cultivars induced by Fusarium infection

“…Numerous in vitro experiments confirmed the inhibitory effect of selected phenolic acids on the production of mycotoxins produced, e.g. by Fusarium culmorum or Fusarium verticillioides (Beekrum et al 2003;Boutigny et al 2010).…”

Effect of aqueous extracts of Mentha arvensis (mint) and Piper betle (betel) on growth and citrinin production from toxigenic Penicillium citrinum

“…The antioxidants were however ineffective in inhibiting the fungal growth (Mahoney et al 2010). Apart from aflatoxin, the plant derived antioxidants have inhibited the production of other mycotoxins as well such as Nivalenol, Deoxynivalenol, Fusarenone (Chipley and Uraih 1980;Beekrum et al 2003;Fanelli et al 2004;Tolaini et al 2010). The published data about the effect of botanicals and their products; specially essential oil suggests mixed results as some of the botanicals like clove, star anise, allspices, cinnamon, garlic and carrot inhibited fungal growth as well as aflatoxin production proportional to the concentration used (Hitokoto et al 1980;Thanaboripat et al 1997;Tian et al 2011).…”

Plant cell wall aromatics: influence on degradation of biomass

“…[55][56][57] Th e release of phenolic compounds may have contributed to reduced ethanol yields in earlier studies of esterase-derived materials. 28 Related to antimicrobial potential, Beekrum et al 58 reported the eff ectiveness of ferulic acid and naturally occurring phenols against the plant pathogen Fusarium species and its mycotoxins for which currently there are no adequate treatment means. Further, considerable interest exists for plant phenolics related to diet and disease, for example, cancer.…”