title: Effect of Carum copticum essential oil on growth and aflatoxin formation by Aspergillus strains.
abstract: The objectives of this study were to determine the antiaflatoxin B1 activity in vitro of the essential oil (EO) extracted from the seeds of Carum copticum and to evaluate its antifungal activity in vivo as a potential food preservative. The C. copticum EO exhibited noticeable inhibition on dry mycelium and synthesis of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) by Aspergillus flavus, completely inhibiting AFB1 production at 4 μL/mL. C. copticum EOs showed the lowest percentages of decayed cherry tomatoes for all fungi compared with the control at 100 μL/mL with values of 5.01 ± 67% for A. flavus and 5.98 ± 54% for Aspergillus niger. The results indicated that the percentage of infected fruits is significantly (p < 0.01) reduced by the EO at 16°C for 30 days. In this case, the oil at 100 μL/mL concentration showed the highest inhibition of fungal infection with a value of 80.45% compared with the control. Thus, the EO of dill could be used to control food spoilage and as a potential source of food preservative.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Horticultural Science , College of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources, Tehran Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University , Tehran , Iran.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kazemi
mesh_terms: D016604:Aflatoxin B1 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D001231:Aspergillus flavus / Q000187:drug effects*; D001234:Aspergillus niger / Q000187:drug effects*; D029974:Carum / Q000737:chemistry*; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000737:chemistry; D005519:Food Preservation; D005638:Fruit; D005659:Fungicides, Industrial / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010636:Phenols / Q000737:chemistry; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D005419:Flavonoids; D005659:Fungicides, Industrial; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D010636:Phenols; D010938:Plant Oils; D016604:Aflatoxin B1
keywords: Carum copticum; antiaflatoxin B1; essential oil; food preservative