Potential of Citrullus colocynthis L. Schrad. Immature Seed Extracts as Food Preservative against a Fungal Mycotoxigenic Contaminant

The world of plant extracts and natural compounds have long been regarded as a promise land for the individuation of healthy alternatives to chemical preservatives, against microbial contamination, in food and feed commodities. A plethora of aromatic and medicinal plant species have been studied fro...

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Main Authors: Francesca Mussi, Serena Montalbano, Belsem Marzouk, Laura Arru, Meher Refifa, Zohra Marzouk, Jamil Kraiem, Francesca Degola, Annamaria Buschini
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2021-01-01
Series:Journal of Food Quality
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/4470643
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author Francesca Mussi
Serena Montalbano
Belsem Marzouk
Laura Arru
Meher Refifa
Zohra Marzouk
Jamil Kraiem
Francesca Degola
Annamaria Buschini
author_facet Francesca Mussi
Serena Montalbano
Belsem Marzouk
Laura Arru
Meher Refifa
Zohra Marzouk
Jamil Kraiem
Francesca Degola
Annamaria Buschini
author_sort Francesca Mussi
collection DOAJ
description The world of plant extracts and natural compounds have long been regarded as a promise land for the individuation of healthy alternatives to chemical preservatives, against microbial contamination, in food and feed commodities. A plethora of aromatic and medicinal plant species have been studied from decades to explore their antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, in order to both validate their ethnobotanical use for healing microbial illnesses and assess their suitability as food preservation agents. In fact, after terrestrialization and during the following evolutionary pathway, plants had to develop chemical compounds—constitutive and/or induced—for defence against specific pathogens, therefore becoming a potential source of new natural products usable with antimicrobial purposes. Aside from the most common contaminants that could occur in foodstuff, mycotoxigenic fungal species represent a big concern, mainly in cereals and derived products: aflatoxins in particular are the most dreaded among such toxic and cancerogenic secondary metabolites, and the control of the main producer Aspergillus flavus is currently one of the most pursued goals in the field of food safety. As aromatic and medicinal plants have a long history of use in the Mediterranean basin for both food preservation and pest control in crops, the exploitation of native species for the control of mycotoxigenic phytopathogens is almost rationale. The present work provides novel insights into the possible use of C. colocynthis seed organic extracts as antimycotoxigenic additives, demonstrating, for some of them, a feasible application as crop and food protectants with specific regard to aflatoxin contamination. Additionally, the evaluation of their cytotoxic potential and nitric oxide production on human cell lines has been reported for the first time.
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institution Kabale University
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spelling doaj-art-aebacc11a7134a2f83eb87805fb915132025-08-20T03:38:59ZengWileyJournal of Food Quality0146-94281745-45572021-01-01202110.1155/2021/44706434470643Potential of Citrullus colocynthis L. Schrad. Immature Seed Extracts as Food Preservative against a Fungal Mycotoxigenic ContaminantFrancesca Mussi0Serena Montalbano1Belsem Marzouk2Laura Arru3Meher Refifa4Zohra Marzouk5Jamil Kraiem6Francesca Degola7Annamaria Buschini8Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, ItalyLaboratory of Chemical, Galenic and Pharmacological Development of Drugs, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Monastir, Monastir, TunisiaDepartment of Life Sciences, Centre BIOGEST-SITEIA, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, ItalyLaboratory of Chemical, Galenic and Pharmacological Development of Drugs, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Monastir, Monastir, TunisiaLaboratory of Chemical, Galenic and Pharmacological Development of Drugs, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Monastir, Monastir, TunisiaDepartment of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, ItalyThe world of plant extracts and natural compounds have long been regarded as a promise land for the individuation of healthy alternatives to chemical preservatives, against microbial contamination, in food and feed commodities. A plethora of aromatic and medicinal plant species have been studied from decades to explore their antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, in order to both validate their ethnobotanical use for healing microbial illnesses and assess their suitability as food preservation agents. In fact, after terrestrialization and during the following evolutionary pathway, plants had to develop chemical compounds—constitutive and/or induced—for defence against specific pathogens, therefore becoming a potential source of new natural products usable with antimicrobial purposes. Aside from the most common contaminants that could occur in foodstuff, mycotoxigenic fungal species represent a big concern, mainly in cereals and derived products: aflatoxins in particular are the most dreaded among such toxic and cancerogenic secondary metabolites, and the control of the main producer Aspergillus flavus is currently one of the most pursued goals in the field of food safety. As aromatic and medicinal plants have a long history of use in the Mediterranean basin for both food preservation and pest control in crops, the exploitation of native species for the control of mycotoxigenic phytopathogens is almost rationale. The present work provides novel insights into the possible use of C. colocynthis seed organic extracts as antimycotoxigenic additives, demonstrating, for some of them, a feasible application as crop and food protectants with specific regard to aflatoxin contamination. Additionally, the evaluation of their cytotoxic potential and nitric oxide production on human cell lines has been reported for the first time.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/4470643
spellingShingle Francesca Mussi
Serena Montalbano
Belsem Marzouk
Laura Arru
Meher Refifa
Zohra Marzouk
Jamil Kraiem
Francesca Degola
Annamaria Buschini
Potential of Citrullus colocynthis L. Schrad. Immature Seed Extracts as Food Preservative against a Fungal Mycotoxigenic Contaminant
Journal of Food Quality
title Potential of Citrullus colocynthis L. Schrad. Immature Seed Extracts as Food Preservative against a Fungal Mycotoxigenic Contaminant
title_full Potential of Citrullus colocynthis L. Schrad. Immature Seed Extracts as Food Preservative against a Fungal Mycotoxigenic Contaminant
title_fullStr Potential of Citrullus colocynthis L. Schrad. Immature Seed Extracts as Food Preservative against a Fungal Mycotoxigenic Contaminant
title_full_unstemmed Potential of Citrullus colocynthis L. Schrad. Immature Seed Extracts as Food Preservative against a Fungal Mycotoxigenic Contaminant
title_short Potential of Citrullus colocynthis L. Schrad. Immature Seed Extracts as Food Preservative against a Fungal Mycotoxigenic Contaminant
title_sort potential of citrullus colocynthis l schrad immature seed extracts as food preservative against a fungal mycotoxigenic contaminant
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/4470643
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