Unravelling the antifungal and anti-aflatoxin B1 mechanism of chitosan nanocomposite incorporated with Foeniculum vulgare essential oil

Abstract

The study reports the antifungal and aflatoxin B₁ inhibitory efficacy of chemically characterized chitosan-based nanoencapsulated Foeniculum vulgare Mill. essential oil (Ne-FvEO), and its effect on sensory and nutritional properties of Sorghum bicolor. The Ne-FvEO was characterized through SEM, FTIR and XRD. The Ne-FvEO demonstrated superior antifungal (0.4 μl/ml) and aflatoxin B₁ inhibitory (0.3 μl/ml) performance than the free FvEO. The biochemical studies reveal the significant alteration in ergosterol content, ions leakage, mitochondrial membrane potential, C-sources utilization and antioxidant defense system in A. flavus exposed to Ne-FvEO. The 3D modeling of the Nor-1 gene product was done using the I-TASSER server and validated by the Ramachandran plot. The in-situ result reveals that the Ne-FvEO significantly preserved the nutritional and sensory characteristics of S. bicolor seeds. Therefore, Ne-FvEO could be used as a green preservative agent to enhance the shelf-life of the food commodities.

Keywords: Antifungal; Chitosan nanocomposite; Eessential oil; Foeniculum vulgare; Mode of action.