Affiliation:
1. Key Laboratory of Grains and Oils Quality Control and Processing, Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Grain Circulation and Safety, College of Food Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing 210023, China
2. Joint Laboratory for International Cooperation in Grain Circulation and Security, Nanjing 210023, China
Abstract
Cinnamaldehyde (CA), a natural plant extract, possesses notable antimicrobial properties and the ability to inhibit mycotoxin synthesis. This study investigated the effects of different concentrations of gaseous CA on A. flavus and found that higher concentrations exhibited fungicidal effects, while lower concentrations exerted fungistatic effects. Although all A. flavus strains exhibited similar responses to CA vapor, the degree of response varied among them. Notably, A. flavus strains HN-1, JX-3, JX-4, and HN-8 displayed higher sensitivity. Exposure to CA vapor led to slight damage to A. flavus, induced oxidative stress, and inhibited aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) production. Upon removal of the CA vapor, the damaged A. flavus resumed growth, the oxidative stress weakened, and AFB1 production sharply increased in aflatoxin-producing strains. In the whole process, no aflatoxin was detected in aflatoxin-non-producing A. flavus. Moreover, the qRT-PCR results suggest that the recovery of A. flavus and the subsequent surge of AFB1 content following CA removal were regulated by a drug efflux pump and velvet complex proteins. In summary, these findings emphasize the significance of optimizing the targeted concentrations of antifungal EOs and provide valuable insight for their accurate application.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province
Subject
Plant Science,Health Professions (miscellaneous),Health (social science),Microbiology,Food Science
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