Proceedings of the National Conference on Next-Generation Sustainable Technologies for Small-Scale Producers (NGST 2022)

Fungicidal Potential of Essential Oils in Organic Corn Grains during Storage

Authors
Jianmei Yu1, *, Esther Iwayemi1, Ivana Pedroso1, Nona Mikiashvili1
1Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, North Carolina A&T State University, 1601 East Market Street, Greensboro, NC, USA
*Corresponding author. Email: jyu@ncat.edu
Corresponding Author
Jianmei Yu
Available Online 22 November 2023.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-282-8_11How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Essential oils; Mold growth inhibition; Organic corn grains; Storage
Abstract

Mold and mycotoxin contamination of cereal grains not only affect human and animal health but also have a significant economic impact on cereal growers and food processors due to grain loss and product recall. Synthetic fumigant is usually used to control mold growth during grain storage, but it is not permitted for organic grains. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the antifungal potential of some essential oils (EOs) for organic corn grain protection at storage temperature 25 and 35°C and water activities 0.85 and 0.9 by a simulated fumigation method. A 4x2x2 experimental design was used. The three factors were the types of EOs (cinnamon, clove, oregano and thyme oils), storage temperature (25 and 35°C) and water activity (aw) (0.85 and 0.9). Organic corn grains were weighed into a set of glass jars and adjusted to the desired water activity (aw). EOs were diluted to 10% using 10% DMSO, 0.5 mL diluted EO was added to a cotton ball taped to the lid. The jars were capped immediately and stored at the desired temperature for 7-35 days. Samples treated with fungicide Pyraclostrobin and 10% DMSO were used as positive control and negative control, respectively. Mold growth was monitored every 7 days by photographing and aflatoxins in the samples were determined by ultra-high-performance-liquid-chromatography (UPLC). The study found that the mold growth and aflatoxin contents of corn grains were affected by the type of EO, storage temperature and moisture or water activity. At 25°C and aw=0.85, the negative control was molded at day 28, while others were not molded; aflatoxin B1 and B2 were almost unchanged in positive control and cinnamon oil treated samples; aflatoxin G1 and G2 were below the detection limit in positive-control and EO-treated samples. At 35°C, the negative-control was molded in 7 days at aw=0.9 and 14 days at aw=0.85, while samples treated with fungicide and cinnamon oil were not molded until day 28 and 35, respectively. The lowest aflatoxin B1 concentration was detected in the samples treated with cinnamon oil, oregano oil and positive control. The results indicated that cinnamon oil and oregano oil at a concentration 0.4 mL/100g corn grains have great potential to replace toxic fumigants to protect organic grains from mold and mycotoxin contamination during storage.

Copyright
© 2023 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the National Conference on Next-Generation Sustainable Technologies for Small-Scale Producers (NGST 2022)
Series
Advances in Biological Sciences Research
Publication Date
22 November 2023
ISBN
978-94-6463-282-8
ISSN
2468-5747
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-282-8_11How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2023 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

TY  - CONF
AU  - Jianmei Yu
AU  - Esther Iwayemi
AU  - Ivana Pedroso
AU  - Nona Mikiashvili
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/11/22
TI  - Fungicidal Potential of Essential Oils in Organic Corn Grains during Storage
BT  - Proceedings of the National Conference on Next-Generation Sustainable Technologies for Small-Scale Producers (NGST 2022)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 83
EP  - 93
SN  - 2468-5747
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-282-8_11
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-282-8_11
ID  - Yu2023
ER  -