title: Evaluation of ability of ferulic acid to control growth and fumonisin production of Fusarium verticillioides and Fusarium proliferatum on maize based media.
abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of ferulic acid (1, 10, 20 and 25 mM) at different water activity (aw) values (0.99, 0.98, 0.96 and 0.93) at 25 °C on growth and fumonisin production by Fusarium verticillioides and Fusarium proliferatum on maize based media. For both Fusarium species, the lag phase significantly decreased (p ≤ 0.001), and the growth rates increased (p ≤ 0.001) at the lowest ferulic acid concentration used (1mM), regardless of the aw. However, high doses of ferulic acid (10 to 25 mM) significantly reduced (p ≤ 0.001) the growth rate of both Fusarium species, regardless of the a(w). In general, growth rate inhibition increased as ferulic acid doses increased and as media aw decreased. Fumonisin production profiles of both Fusarium species showed that low ferulic acid concentrations (1-10mM) significantly increased (p ≤ 0.001) toxin production, regardless of the aw. High doses of ferulic acid (20-25 mM) reduced fumonisin production, in comparison with the controls, by both Fusarium species but they were not statistically significant in most cases. The results show that the use of ferulic acid as a post-harvest strategy to reduce mycotoxin accumulation on maize needs to be discussed.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología e Inmunología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fco-Qcas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, Ruta 36 Km 601, 5800 Río Cuarto, Córdoba, Argentina.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ferrochio
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cendoya
authors.forename: María Cecilia
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Farnochi
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Massad
authors.forename: María Laura
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ramirez
mesh_terms: D003373:Coumaric Acids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry; D037341:Fumonisins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005670:Fusarium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D003313:Zea mays / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D003373:Coumaric Acids; D003470:Culture Media; D037341:Fumonisins; D014867:Water; C004999:ferulic acid
keywords: Ferulic acid; Fumonisin; Fusarium proliferatum; Fusarium verticillioides; Maize; Water activity