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Aromatic plants are one of the most important sources of biologically active secondary metabolites, which possess various antimicrobial characteristics. The aim of this work was to examine the effect of antifungal activities of mint and caraway essential oils against the selected fungi. Eight species of molds were selected for antifungal testing: Alternaria alternata, Aspegillus flavus, A. niger, A. versicolor, Eurotium herbariorum, Penicillium aurantiogriseum, P. chrysogenum and P. expansum. Testing of essential oils antifungal activity against the selected species was conducted using the disc diffusion method by adding mint and caraway essential oils (0.5, 1, 5, and 10 μl per disc). Antifungal activity of essential oils was expressed by the diameter of inhibition zone (mm). The most powerful effect of mint essential oil was recorded against E. herbariorum, as its growth was completely inhibited by the quantity of 5 μl. The weakest inhibitory effect was observed against P. chrysogenum (inhibition zone 13.67 mm) by the quantity of 10 μl. The most powerful antifungal activity of caraway was observed against E. herbariorum as growth was completely inhibited by the quantity of 10 μl. The weakest inhibitory effect was observed against A. niger (inhibition zone 28 mm) by the quantity of 10 μl. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 31029]

An inhibitory effect of various concentrations (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2,0%) of mint (Mentha piperita L.) and caraway (Carvum carvi L.) on the growth of A. fumigatus, A. flavus and A. ochraceus was examined during 10 days of cultivation in YES medium at temperature of 25°C. Mint showed stronger inhibitory effect than caraway. Total dry weight (g/l) after 10 days of the growth of A. fumigatus in YES medium with 0.5% of mint decreased by about 95%, A. flavus by 97% and A. ochraceus by about 82%. Addition of higher concentrations of mint (1.0, 1.5 and 2.0%) reduced the growth of all tested species. It was poor and hardly visible. pH values of the media increased with the increase of mint concentrations. A. fumigatus showed the highest sensitivity towards caraway and A. flavus the lowest. Total dry weight (g/l) after 10 days of growth of A. fumigatus in medium with 0.5% of caraway decreased by about 72% in comparison to the control. In media with higher concentrations of caraway, its growth was found to be very poor. Concentration of 1.0% of caraway reduced A. flavus growth by 15% and of 1.5% by 92%, in regard to the control. In medium with 2.0% of caraway the growth of A. flavus was observed as poor and hardly visible. The growth of A. ochraceus in medium with 0.5% of caraway decreased by about 85% comparing with control and further decrease was noticed by the increase of concentrations. In medium with 1.5% of caraway a reduction of about 95% of growth was found and under 2.0% of caraway it was poor. pH of the media also increased with the increase of caraway concentrations. Applied concentrations of mint and caraway inhibited completely the production of AB1 by A. flavus.

Results of this paper show share of aflatoxigenic moulds from genera Aspergillus and Penicillium in mycopopulations isolated from spices that are often used in meat processing (ground pepper, dried peppercorn, paprika powder, caraway and laurel). Using standard mycological methods, it has been found that all the examined samples were contaminated by Aspergillus species, and further 50% by Penicillium species. Additionally, aflatoxigenic moulds A. flavus and A. niger were found to be present. A. flavus was present with 60% in the samples of dried peppercorn 2; paprika powder 2, while its frequencies in ground pepper 1 and laurel were 50% and 28,5%. respectively. A. niger made up 50% of all the isolates of Aspergillus and Penicillium species, isolated from paprika powder 1, although its share in the samples of laurel, paprika powder 2 and ground pepper 1 was 43%, 20% and 10% respectively.