Assessment of preservative potential of Bunium persicum (Boiss) essential oil against fungal and aflatoxin contamination of stored masticatories and improvement in efficacy through encapsulation into chitosan nanomatrix

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 27; no. 22; pp. 27635 - 27650
• Main Authors: Singh, Akanksha, Deepika, Chaudhari, Anand Kumar, Das, Somenath, Singh, Vipin Kumar, Dwivedy, Abhishek Kumar, Shivalingam, Ramani Kandasamy, Dubey, Nawal Kishore
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.08.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aflatoxin B1; Aflatoxins; Animals; Antifungal activity; Antifungal Agents; antioxidant activity; Antioxidants; Apiaceae; Aquatic Pollution; Aspergillus flavus; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Bunium persicum; Chitosan; Contamination; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Encapsulation; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Ergosterol; Essential oils; Fluidity; Food; Food contamination; Fungi; Fungicides; mechanism of action; Membrane fluidity; Membranes; Mice; nanocapsules; Nanoparticles; Oils & fats; Oils, Volatile; particle size; Phyllanthus emblica; plasma membrane; pollution; Preservatives; Pyruvaldehyde; Research Article; secretion; Sensory properties; Terpinene; toxigenic strains; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Zeta potential; Masticatories; Methylglyoxal; essential oil; Chitosan; Aflatoxin B; Nanoencapsulation; Aflatoxin B1; Bunium persicum essential oil
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-08872-4

The study reports the preservative efficacy of Bunium persicum (Boiss) essential oil (BPEO) against fungal and aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ) contamination of stored masticatories and boosting of its efficacy through encapsulation into chitosan. BPEO was chemically characterized through GC-MS analysis, which revealed γ-terpinene as the major compound. The BPEO at 1.2 μL/mL concentration completely inhibited the growth of toxigenic strain of Aspergillus flavus (AF-LHP-PE-4) along with 15 common food borne moulds and AFB 1 secretion. The BPEO exerts its antifungal action on plasma membrane, as confirmed through ergosterol inhibition, alteration of membrane fluidity and enhancement of cellular ions and 260 and 280 nm absorbing material leakage. The antiaflatoxigenic mechanism of action of BPEO was confirmed through methylglyoxal reduction. Further, BPEO showed strong antioxidant activity (IC 50  = 7.36 μL/mL) as measured by DPPH · assay. During in situ investigation, BPEO completely inhibited AFB 1 production in model food ( Phyllanthus emblica ) system without altering the sensory properties and also exhibited high LD 50 value (14,584.54 μL/kg) on mice. In addition, BPEO was encapsulated into chitosan, characterized and tested for their potential to inhibit growth and AFB 1 production. The mean particle size, PDI and zeta potential of formed BPEO-loaded chitosan nanoparticle (CS-Np-BPEO) were performed to confirm successful encapsulation. The result revealed nanoencapsulated BPEO showed enhanced activity and completely inhibited the growth and AFB 1 production by AF-LHP-PE-4 at 0.8 μL/mL. Based on findings, it could be concluded that the BPEO and its encapsulated formulation can be recommended as a potential plant-based preservative against fungal and aflatoxin contamination of stored masticatories.