Ferulic acid use to control growth and fumonisin production by F. verticillioides and F. proliferatum isolated from argentinian maiz

FERROCHIO L.; CENDOYA E.; FARNOCHI M.C.; MASSAD W.; RAMIREZ M.L.

Martina Franca

Conferencia; ISM-Mycored Conference Europe 2013, Global Mycotoxin Reduction Strategies,; 2013

International Society of Micotoxicology

Maize (Zea mays L.) can be infected with several fungal species, some of them potential mycotoxin producers: Fusarium verticillioides and Fusarium proliferatum. Fumonisins are unavoidable contaminants in the food and feed chains, so their presence need to be reduced in order to avoid their effects on human and animals and to diminish the annual market losses through rejected maize. As a consequence several biological, chemical and physiological post-harvest strategies have been proposed to minimize fungal spoilage and poisoning by mycotoxins. Post-harvest strategies have been based on the application of chemical antifungal agents, but most of them are perceived to present hazard to human health and environment, so consumers pressure to use natural compounds for this purpose. Ferulic acid is a phenolic acid, a secondary metabolite ubiquitously distributed in all higher plants; its content is highest on maize. This compound is a strong antioxidant and acts inhibiting fungal enzymes. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of ferulic acid (1, 10, 20 and 25 mM) under different interacting water availability (0.99, 0.98, 0.96 and 0.93) at 25 °C on growth rate and fumonisin production by F. verticillioides and F. proliferatum isolated from Argentinean maize. The profiles of growth showed that ferulic acid at the lowest concentration used (1 mM) significantly increased (p ≤ 0.001) the growth rates of both Fusarium species, regardless aW, in comparison with the control treatments. However, high doses of ferulic acid (10 to 25 mM) significantly reduced (p ≤ 0.001) the growth rates of both Fusarium species, regardless aW. The profiles of fumonisin production showed that ferulic acid at low concentrations used (1 -10 mM) significantly increased (p ≤ 0.001) toxin production of both Fusarium species, regardless aW, in comparison with the controls. High doses of ferulic acid (20- 25 mM) showed reduction on fumonisin production, in comparison with the controls, by both Fusarium species but they were not statistically significant (p ≥ 0.001) in most of the cases. According to the results the use of ferulic acid as a post-harvest strategy to reduce mycotoxin accumulation on maize need to be discuss.