Assessment of chitosan biopolymer encapsulated α-Terpineol against fungal, aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ) and free radicals mediated deterioration of stored maize and possible mode of action.

This study reports enhanced efficacy of encapsulated α-Terpineol to control fungal, aflatoxin B ₁ (AFB ₁ ) and free radicals mediated deterioration of stored maize samples. The α-Terpineol loaded chitosan nanoemulsion (α-TCsNe) was characterized through SEM, FTIR and XRD techniques. The α-TCsNe exhibited enhanced antifungal activity against aflatoxin secreting strain of Aspergillus flavus (AF-LHP-S1) and 12 other food borne moulds as well as AFB ₁ production at 0.4 and 0.3 µL/mL, respectively. Further, α-TCsNe inhibited ergosterol synthesis, methylglyoxal (the aflatoxin enhancer) content and enhanced cellular contents release. α-TCsNe showed enhanced radical scavenging activity with IC ₅₀ value equivalent to 39.57 and 6.23 µL/mL for DPPH and ABTS, respectively. In addition, α-TCsNe completely inhibited AFB ₁ production in stored maize samples during in situ investigation. Overall, α-TCsNe holds a promising potential and can be recommended as a novel antifungal preservative to improve the shelf-life of stored maize samples against fungal and aflatoxin contamination.
(Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)