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Inhibitory Effects of Ephedra major Host on Aspergillus parasiticus Growth and Aflatoxin Production

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Abstract

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of Ephedra major Host, an important medicinal plant with various biological activities, on growth and aflatoxin (AF) production by Aspergillus parasiticus NRRL 2999. The fungus was cultured in yeast extract-sucrose (YES) broth, a conductive medium that supports AF production, in the presence of various concentrations of essential oil (EO), hexanic and methanolic extracts of plant aerial parts, fruits, and roots using microbioassay technique. After incubating for 96 h at 28°C in static conditions, mycelial dry weight was determined as an index of fungal growth, and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) was measured using HPLC technique. Based on the obtained results, EO of plant aerial parts significantly inhibited fungal growth at the highest concentration of 1000 μg/ml without any obvious effect on AFB1 production at all concentrations used. Among plant extracts tested, only methanolic extract of aerial parts and roots were found to inhibit fungal growth and AFB1 production dose-dependently with an IC50 value of 559.74 and 3.98 μg/ml for AFB1, respectively. Based on the GC/MS data, the major components of E. major EO were bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (42.48%), pentacosane (20.94%), docosane (14.64%), citronellol (5.15%), heptadecan (4.41%), cis-3-Hexen-1-ol benzoate (4.07%), and 7-Octen-2-ol (3.25%). With respect to the potent inhibition of fungal growth and AF production by E. major, this plant may be useful in protecting crops from both toxigenic fungal growth and AF contamination.

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Acknowledgments

The present work was financially supported by Pasteur Institute of Iran. The authors wish to thank Afsaneh Dehnamaki from Mycology Department of Pasteur Institute of Iran for her helpful technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

    Shahrokh Bagheri-Gavkosh

  2. Research Centre of Jahad Agriculture, Talegani Street, Tehran, Iran

    Mohsen Bigdeli

  3. Department of Mycology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, 14115-111, Tehran, Iran

    Masoomeh Shams-Ghahfarokhi

  4. Department of Mycology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, 13164, Tehran, Iran

    Mehdi Razzaghi-Abyaneh

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  1. Shahrokh Bagheri-Gavkosh
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  2. Mohsen Bigdeli
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  4. Mehdi Razzaghi-Abyaneh
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Correspondence to Mehdi Razzaghi-Abyaneh.

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Bagheri-Gavkosh, S., Bigdeli, M., Shams-Ghahfarokhi, M. et al. Inhibitory Effects of Ephedra major Host on Aspergillus parasiticus Growth and Aflatoxin Production. Mycopathologia 168, 249–255 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-009-9220-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-009-9220-x

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