Inhibitory effects of three monoterpenes from ginger essential oil on growth and aflatoxin production of Aspergillus flavus and their gene regulation in aflatoxin biosynthesis

• Published in: Applied biological chemistry Vol. 61; no. 2; pp. 243 - 250
• Main Authors: Moon, Young-Sun, Lee, Hoi-Seon, Lee, Sung-Eun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.04.2018; Springer Nature B.V; 한국응용생명화학회
• Subjects: Aflatoxins; Agricultural products; Antifungal activity; antifungal properties; Applied Microbiology; Aspergillus flavus; Biological Techniques; Bioorganic Chemistry; Biosynthesis; borneol; Chemical analysis; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Citral; Essential oils; Fungicides; gamma-terpinene; Gas chromatography; Gene expression; Gene regulation; Genes; Ginger; microbial growth; Monoterpenes; Oils & fats; quantitative polymerase chain reaction; reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; Terpinene; Yes-associated protein; Zingiber officinale; 농학; Aflatoxins; Antiaflatoxigenic activity; Antifungal; Terpinene; Citral
• ISSN: 2468-0834; 1738-2203; 2468-0842
• DOI: 10.1007/s13765-018-0352-x

Ginger ( Zingiber officinale ) essential oil (ZOE) possesses strong antibacterial and antifungal activities. In this study, the antifungal activity of ZOE against Aspergillus flavus was investigated, and a chemical analysis was carried out to identify compounds that control fungal growth. A total of 37 compounds were identified by gas chromatographic analysis with a mass detector, and the antifungal and antiaflatoxigenic properties of three constituents, γ -terpinene, isoborneol, and citral, against A. flavus were tested. All compounds exhibited strong antifungal activity at 1000 μg/mL, and the antifungal activity of γ -terpinene and citral remained until treatment with tenfold diluted solution. The decrease in aflatoxin production by the three compounds was observed until treatment with 10 μg/mL. To evaluate their antiaflatoxigenic activity, RT-qPCR was used to compare the expression of 11 genes involved in aflatoxin biosynthesis by A. flavus . Among the three compounds, γ -terpinene and citral markedly reduced the expression of most of the tested genes but a different pattern of downregulation of the expression was observed. γ -Terpinene did not downregulate aflR , aflS , and yap , whereas citral did not alter the expression of aflC and aflG . Therefore, γ -terpinene and citral may have the potential to control A. flavus growth and aflatoxin production in agricultural products, including at the storage stage.